Deportation Studies: Origins, Themes and Directions

Abstract

The new field of deportation studies emerged at the intersection of immigration and security studies in the early 2000s. Focusing on deportation raises new questions about migration and enforcement tactics, but reproduces assumptions about the nature of movement and the centrality of the state in enforcement efforts. Through ethnographic work on deportation in various regions of the world, this volume questions these assumptions and emphasises important themes, including the role of emotions, the agency of migrants, the technicality of law and the variability of law. These themes also suggest several new and not-so-new directions for further research.

Social Inclusion and Exclusion in the Life Stories of Deported Asylum Seekers from Finland to Iraqi Kurdistan

“…Discourses on success are an integral part of migrant stories. Deportation commonly denotes failure (Coutin 2015;Drotbohm 2015;Schuster & Majidi 2015). Against this backdrop, the reactions Baban and Hano faced upon returning to their home could be anticipated.…”

Deportation, Anxiety, Justice: New Ethnographic Perspectives

“…In this context, deportation has become an intrinsic part of Zimbabwean migrants' lives-and a disquieting interruption of their lives-but has not succeeded in hindering the mobility of deported migrants who are able to return to Botswana and pursue with their livelihoods. This special issue thus points to the need to look not only to the dramatic effect of deportation but also to processes of normalisation and routinisation (see also Coutin 2014).…”

“…In her commentary to this special issue, Coutin highlights crucial legal paradoxes stemming from deportation. Protection or control, compassion or justice, individual or collective rights, humanitarianism or enforcement prove to be highly contradictive, 'doublebind' categories in the context of deportation (Coutin 2014).…”

“…For understanding the 'reason' or persuasiveness of deportation, she suggests tackling the 'fantasies' deportation may feed among those not living under the threat of it. And finally, she calls for a critical analysis of the power imbalances between researcher and deportees, which often constitute the reason as well as the ground for studying deportation, and which establish 'irreconcilable incompatibilities' during ethnographic fieldwork (Coutin 2014).…”

“…perspectives, governmental positions, political regimes and the societal effect of involuntary return (Coutin 2014).…”