ABSTRACT

This paper considers borders as ubiquitous and pervasive social relations and as sites of struggles, which are shaped through and transformed by social antagonisms and contestations. While much discussion of border struggles focuses on migrants’ resistance and various forms of activism, this paper provides insights on the micro-resistance of those who, instead of overtly opposing and contesting the biopolitical power of border regimes, are integral to their operation: asylum caseworkers who filter and select border-crossers. The paper presents data from interviews with self-identified leftist asylum caseworkers in Greece who, through their work, seek to create cracks in the so-called ‘Fortress Europe’. By exploring the somewhat unexplored occupational culture of leftist asylum caseworkers, we show how, while trying to resist bordering regimes, leftist asylum caseworkers both critique and reproduce the power relations they seek to subvert. Essentially, we provide valuable insights on the limits of resistance due to the workings of powerful technologies of government – informed by neoliberal managerialism – that are operational in day-to-day life of the asylum process. The paper thus provides a novel exploration of the complex and entangled relation between technologies of power and micro-resistances within border regimes in the significant context of Greece.

摘要

本文将边界视为无处不在和普遍存在的社会关系以及斗争的场所，它是通过社会对抗和争论塑造和转变的。虽然对边境斗争的许多讨论都集中在移民的抵抗和各种形式的激进主义上，但本文提供了关于那些与其公然反对和竞争边境政权的生命政治权力的人的微观抵抗的见解：庇护筛选和选择越境者的个案工作者。该论文提供了对自我认同的左派人士的采访数据希腊的庇护案件工作者，通过他们的工作，试图在所谓的“欧洲堡垒”中制造裂缝。通过探索左翼庇护案件工作者有点未探索的职业文化，我们展示了左翼庇护案件工作者在试图抵制边界政权的同时如何批判和复制他们试图颠覆的权力关系。从本质上讲，我们提供了有关由于强大的政府技术（受新自由主义管理主义启发）的运作而产生的阻力限制的宝贵见解，这些技术在庇护程序的日常生活中发挥作用。因此，本文对希腊重要背景下边境政权内的权力技术与微观抵抗之间复杂而纠缠的关系进行了新颖的探索。