Governing Migrants in the European Union: A Critical Approach to Interrogating Migrants' Journey Narratives

dc.contributor.authorSafouane, Hamzaen
dc.contributor.committeechairLuke, Timothy W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberRothschild, Joyceen
dc.contributor.committeememberShadle, Brett L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberStephenson, Max O. Jr.en
dc.contributor.departmentPublic Administration/Public Affairsen
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-15T06:01:12Zen
dc.date.available2019-09-15T06:01:12Zen
dc.date.issued2018-03-23en
dc.description.abstractIs it possible to conceive of migrants as active stakeholders of migration and asylum policies rather than passive objects of political and humanitarian intervention? In the public discourse on migration, migrants' voices are largely ignored and their political future in the reception country is often that of ascribed muteness and disenfranchisement. Yet, migrants have a voice, a history, a context, and therefore, potential aspirations to a political existence. In this dissertation, I propose an empirical study of the migratory journeys that occurred during what has been known as "the summer of migration," which described the incoming of migrants via the Aegean Sea and through the Western Balkans to Germany and the rest of Northern Europe. Based on field observations in initial reception centers for asylum seekers in Hamburg and semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who came to Germany between 2015 and 2016, this dissertation proposes an analytical framework that provides a critical approach to the migration management regime and migrants migratory journey narratives. The claim of this dissertation is double. First it argues that it is analytically necessary to systematize the production of immanent knowledge about migrants' journeys through their own subjectivities. Such a perspective enables a deeper understanding of the impact of human mobility on state sovereignty, borderscapes and the workings of the migration management regime. Second, it is equally necessary to politically contribute to the normalization of integrating migrants' voices in the public debate and discourse to address oppressive practices of migration management and control.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralIs it possible to conceive of migrants as active stakeholders of migration and asylum policies rather than passive objects of political and humanitarian intervention? In the public discourse on migration, migrants’ voices are largely ignored and their political future in the reception country is often that of ascribed muteness and disenfranchisement. Yet, migrants have a voice, a history, a context, and therefore, potential aspirations to a political existence. In this dissertation, I propose an empirical study of the migratory journeys that occurred during what has been known as “the summer of migration,” which described the incoming of migrants via the Aegean Sea and through the Western Balkans to Germany and the rest of Northern Europe. Based on field observations in initial reception centers for asylum seekers in Hamburg and semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who came to Germany between 2015 and 2016, this dissertation proposes an analytical framework that provides a critical approach to the migration management regime and migrants migratory journey narratives. The claim of this dissertation is double. First it argues that it is analytically necessary to systematize the production of immanent knowledge about migrants’ journeys through their own subjectivities. Such a perspective enables a deeper understanding of the impact of human mobility on state sovereignty, borderscapes and the workings of the migration management regime. Second, it is equally necessary to politically contribute to the normalization of integrating migrants’ voices in the public debate and discourse to address oppressive practices of migration management and control.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:14342en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/93594en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectMigrationen
dc.subjectAsylum seekersen
dc.subjectRefugeesen
dc.subjectMigratory Journeyen
dc.subjectNarrativesen
dc.subjectHospitalityen
dc.subjectInternational refugee regimeen
dc.subjectEuropean Unionen
dc.subjectReception policyen
dc.subjectBordersen
dc.subjectStructured interviewsen
dc.subjectCritical discourse analysisen
dc.titleGoverning Migrants in the European Union: A Critical Approach to Interrogating Migrants' Journey Narrativesen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplinePlanning, Governance, and Globalizationen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Safouane_H_D_2018.pdf
Size:
4.28 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format