Ethnography of the State
Ethnography of the State
This chapter examines the contingent nature of the state’s response to human smuggling. It traces the daily struggles of civil servants charged with policing borders and exposes the political nature of this work. It shows that the movements of asylum seekers or refugee claimants, despite their decreasing numbers and the increasingly aggressive legal practices to exclude them, often will translate into crisis. The state is performative, and it excels at the performance of crisis in border policing. Such performances increase the vulnerability of those seeking protection, as they often create situations when enough political will amasses to move policy agendas forward. The more visible the arrival of asylum seekers, the greater the crisis, and the greater its potential to advance policy in the name of securitization over protection.
Keywords: ethnography, human smuggling, bureaucracy, civil servants, migration, immigration policy, border policing
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