On Wednesday 10th October the edited book ‘Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives’ was officially launched at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, London. Both editors, Nick Gill and Tony Good attended the event – organised by Professor Dave Cohen and Palgrave Macmillan with Professor Linda Mulcahy (LSE) as the discussant.
Abstract
Drawing on new research material from ten European countries, Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives brings together a range of detailed accounts of the legal and bureaucratic processes by which asylum claims are decided. The book includes a legal overview of European asylum determination procedures, followed by sections on the diverse actors involved, the means by which they communicate, and the ways in which they make life and death decisions on a daily basis. It offers a contextually rich account that moves beyond doctrinal law to uncover the gaps and variances between formal policy and legislation, and law as actually practised.
The contributors employ a variety of disciplinary perspectives – sociological, anthropological, geographical and linguistic – but are united in their use of an ethnographic methodological approach. Through this lens, the book captures the confusion, improvisation, inconsistency, complexity and emotional turmoil inherent to the process of claiming asylum in Europe.
More information about the book and its contributing authors can be found here. Note that the book is open access.
Gill, Nick & Good, Anthony (Eds) (2018). Asylum Determination in Europe Ethnographic Perspectives. [Open Access], Palgrave Macmillan.
ISBN 978-3-319-94749-5
ASYFAIR 