Border Control and the Limits of the Sovereign State
- 1 June 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Social & Legal Studies
- Vol. 17 (2), 199-215
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663908089611
Abstract
As has been widely recognized and commented upon, border controls across Europe and America have been strenuously tightened since September 11th. In fact, of course, the movement of certain non-citizens in and around most western, industrialized countries had been restricted for some time predating the advent of the `war on terror'. In this article I will explore the particular use being made in Britain of criminal justice rhetoric and policy as a means of securing the border and the implications of this reliance on criminal justice discourses in the development of immigration and asylum policies. Building on work by David Garland (1996) and Jonathan Simon (2007), I suggest not only that the increased concern over border control reflects a decline in the power of the state in the face of globalization, but also that the adoption of harsh rhetoric about foreigners risks undermining the agency and democratic freedoms long held dear by British citizens.Keywords
This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit:
- Twilight of Sovereignty or the Emergence of Cosmopolitan Norms? Rethinking Citizenship in Volatile TimesCitizenship Studies, 2007
- Immigration, social cohesion and social capital: A critical reviewCritical Social Policy, 2007
- At the extremes of exclusion: Deportation, detention and dispersalEthnic and Racial Studies, 2005
- New borders, new management: The dilemmas of modern immigration policiesEthnic and Racial Studies, 2005
- Immigrants at the MarginsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2005
- The Rights of OthersPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2004
- In the Lowly Nowherevilles of Liquid ModernityEthnography, 2002
- Security and Immigration: Toward a Critique of the Governmentality of UneaseAlternatives: Global, Local, Political, 2002
- Immigration, Law, and Marginalization in a Global Economy: Notes from SpainLaw & Society Review, 1998
- The Citizenship of AliensSocial Text, 1998