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Books by Gillian McFadyen
Refugees in Britain: Practices of Hospitality and Labelling, 2020
An empirical examination of contemporary refugee practices in Britain Weaves together theories of... more An empirical examination of contemporary refugee practices in Britain
Weaves together theories of hospitality and labelling, applying them to the refugee regime
Expands the theoretical framework of hospitality, with development towards an understanding of externalised humanitarian hospitality
Underpinned by rich empirical material: 34 interviews and 30+ years of archival research on government framing of the refugee
Examines three empirically grounded case studies on the British asylum system from the national, regional and grass-roots level: British internal asylum policies (1990–2017), British external policies during the Mediterranean Crisis (2010–17) and a counter-analysis of hospitality practices at the British local level (2015–17)
Refugees in Britain intertwines theories of hospitality and labelling, and applies them to the British refugee regime. This allows for deeper insights into the notions of power, identification, responsibility, language and externalisation.
Gillian McFadyen argues that the British refugee regime has developed towards an externalised humanitarian hospitality. The British practice is geographically projected beyond the territorial confines of the state in order to both control and exclude the refugee.
In tandem, McFadyen engages with counter-discourses by examining local practices of British hospitality and showing acts of solidarity that challenge the statist logic. The result is a theoretically informed account of the British approach to externalisation and geographical seclusion of refugees, particularly in response to the current Mediterranean Crisis
Articles by Gillian McFadyen
Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2019
In the British refugee system, to be granted refugee status the asylum seeker must prove that he ... more In the British refugee system, to be granted refugee status the asylum seeker must prove that he or she has a “well-founded fear” of persecution and is unable to seek protection from the necessary authorities within his or her country of origin. Accordingly, gaining refuge rests upon the telling of a story and having that story be believed. In this sense, language is central to the process of asylum. But it also becomes one of the central barriers to attaining refugee status. This article analyses various barriers to the articulation of a credible and coherent story in the British asylum, such as memory, trauma, and silence, and examines how these barriers can impact detrimentally upon the success of asylum seeker applications.
British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2016
Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have ad... more Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have adopted a stance towards asylum, whereby the interests of the state supersede those seeking asylum. By employing Jacques Derrida’s notion of hospitality and the politics of labelling, the article identifies five ways in which Conservative, New Labour and Conservative Liberal Democratic coalition governments have sought to establish the label of a genuine asylum seeker. Drawing upon parliamentary archives, the article presents a narrative of an idealised refugee figure that has been created through consecutive British governments, at the expense of the asylum seeker. Individuals who do not meet the genuine criteria are branded as failed, bogus asylum seekers, or more recently, immigrants, who abuse the system. The article argues that what we are witnessing within the British asylum system is the politics of hostipitality, whereby hostility is the overriding reaction to the asylum seeker.
Book Chapters by Gillian McFadyen
Research Handbook on Political Propaganda, 2021
Book Reviews by Gillian McFadyen
Conference Presentations by Gillian McFadyen
At the heart of the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is the largest movement of people in recent hist... more At the heart of the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is the largest movement of people in recent history entering into the European Union, arriving via the dangerous Mediterranean Sea routes. Many of these people seeking protection have come from Syria as a consequence of the conflict there, and are fleeing persecution, war and insecurity.
Yet, when engaging with the Mediterranean Crisis there has been debate and speculation as to how to define these people who have been displaced by conflict. Words matter - labels matter - and how we label someone, not only impacts on their position, but also our interactions and responsibilities towards them. For labelling does not occur within a political vacuum. The creation and application of labels is always political. Indeed, within the Mediterranean crisis the labels of migrant and refugee have often been used interchangeably by governments and the media, with the migrant label taking precedence. This paper will offer an analysis of the labels used to define the people displaced in the Mediterranean refugee crisis and discuss the politics behind the labelling.
Papers by Gillian McFadyen
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2016
Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have ad... more Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have adopted a stance towards asylum, whereby the interests of the state supersede those seeking asylum. By employing Jacques Derrida’s notion of hospitality and the politics of labelling, the article identifies five ways in which Conservative, New Labour and Conservative Liberal Democratic coalition governments have sought to establish the label of a genuine asylum seeker. Drawing upon parliamentary archives, the article presents a narrative of an idealised refugee figure that has been created through consecutive British governments, at the expense of the asylum seeker. Individuals who do not meet the genuine criteria are branded as failed, bogus asylum seekers, or more recently, immigrants, who abuse the system. The article argues that what we are witnessing within the British asylum system is the politics of hostipitality, whereby hostility is the overriding reaction to the asylum seeker.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is often presented either as a post-Sec... more The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is often presented either as a post-Second World War institution, or a Cold-War institution, but its origins within colonialism are rarely discussed. However, the UNHCR and the 1951 Refugee Convention are products of the colonial era. This thesis engages with the colonial legacy in the international refugee regime, to analyse how practices of colonialism are still emerging in the relationship between the host state and the refugee. Focusing specifically on how practices of language and silence control and determine the refugee regime, the thesis adopts a postcolonial framework to analyse the refugee regime at three levels. Firstly, it examines the international level, with a focus on the UNHCR itself and the construction of the 1951 Convention, viewing the use of language and silence in the construction of the refugee definition. Secondly, it turns to the regional level to examine how language employed here can advance our understanding and fill in the gaps of the 1951 Convention. Thirdly, it focuses at the state level with a detailed analyses of the British and Kenyan refugee regimes, examining how practices of language, silence, and labelling have effectively marginalised the would-be refugee, establishing idealised notions of what a genuine asylum seeker, ‘bogus’ refugee, or victim should be. The thesis culminates with a call to acknowledge the colonial legacy of the refugee regime, and bring about a ‘colonial turn’, arguing that colonialism, cannot and should not be viewed as a contained historical event. Colonialism shaped and affected both the coloniser and the colonised, and the othering that enabled colonialism, is still continuing and encompasses not only the colonial other, but the foreign other. For the thesis argues that to observe the refugee regime is to observe colonialism in action.
Refugees in Britain: Practices of Hospitality and Labelling, 2020
An empirical examination of contemporary refugee practices in Britain Weaves together theories of... more An empirical examination of contemporary refugee practices in Britain
Weaves together theories of hospitality and labelling, applying them to the refugee regime
Expands the theoretical framework of hospitality, with development towards an understanding of externalised humanitarian hospitality
Underpinned by rich empirical material: 34 interviews and 30+ years of archival research on government framing of the refugee
Examines three empirically grounded case studies on the British asylum system from the national, regional and grass-roots level: British internal asylum policies (1990–2017), British external policies during the Mediterranean Crisis (2010–17) and a counter-analysis of hospitality practices at the British local level (2015–17)
Refugees in Britain intertwines theories of hospitality and labelling, and applies them to the British refugee regime. This allows for deeper insights into the notions of power, identification, responsibility, language and externalisation.
Gillian McFadyen argues that the British refugee regime has developed towards an externalised humanitarian hospitality. The British practice is geographically projected beyond the territorial confines of the state in order to both control and exclude the refugee.
In tandem, McFadyen engages with counter-discourses by examining local practices of British hospitality and showing acts of solidarity that challenge the statist logic. The result is a theoretically informed account of the British approach to externalisation and geographical seclusion of refugees, particularly in response to the current Mediterranean Crisis
Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2019
In the British refugee system, to be granted refugee status the asylum seeker must prove that he ... more In the British refugee system, to be granted refugee status the asylum seeker must prove that he or she has a “well-founded fear” of persecution and is unable to seek protection from the necessary authorities within his or her country of origin. Accordingly, gaining refuge rests upon the telling of a story and having that story be believed. In this sense, language is central to the process of asylum. But it also becomes one of the central barriers to attaining refugee status. This article analyses various barriers to the articulation of a credible and coherent story in the British asylum, such as memory, trauma, and silence, and examines how these barriers can impact detrimentally upon the success of asylum seeker applications.
British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2016
Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have ad... more Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have adopted a stance towards asylum, whereby the interests of the state supersede those seeking asylum. By employing Jacques Derrida’s notion of hospitality and the politics of labelling, the article identifies five ways in which Conservative, New Labour and Conservative Liberal Democratic coalition governments have sought to establish the label of a genuine asylum seeker. Drawing upon parliamentary archives, the article presents a narrative of an idealised refugee figure that has been created through consecutive British governments, at the expense of the asylum seeker. Individuals who do not meet the genuine criteria are branded as failed, bogus asylum seekers, or more recently, immigrants, who abuse the system. The article argues that what we are witnessing within the British asylum system is the politics of hostipitality, whereby hostility is the overriding reaction to the asylum seeker.
Research Handbook on Political Propaganda, 2021
At the heart of the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is the largest movement of people in recent hist... more At the heart of the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is the largest movement of people in recent history entering into the European Union, arriving via the dangerous Mediterranean Sea routes. Many of these people seeking protection have come from Syria as a consequence of the conflict there, and are fleeing persecution, war and insecurity.
Yet, when engaging with the Mediterranean Crisis there has been debate and speculation as to how to define these people who have been displaced by conflict. Words matter - labels matter - and how we label someone, not only impacts on their position, but also our interactions and responsibilities towards them. For labelling does not occur within a political vacuum. The creation and application of labels is always political. Indeed, within the Mediterranean crisis the labels of migrant and refugee have often been used interchangeably by governments and the media, with the migrant label taking precedence. This paper will offer an analysis of the labels used to define the people displaced in the Mediterranean refugee crisis and discuss the politics behind the labelling.
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2016
Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have ad... more Since 1990 when Britain witnessed a spike in asylum applications, consecutive governments have adopted a stance towards asylum, whereby the interests of the state supersede those seeking asylum. By employing Jacques Derrida’s notion of hospitality and the politics of labelling, the article identifies five ways in which Conservative, New Labour and Conservative Liberal Democratic coalition governments have sought to establish the label of a genuine asylum seeker. Drawing upon parliamentary archives, the article presents a narrative of an idealised refugee figure that has been created through consecutive British governments, at the expense of the asylum seeker. Individuals who do not meet the genuine criteria are branded as failed, bogus asylum seekers, or more recently, immigrants, who abuse the system. The article argues that what we are witnessing within the British asylum system is the politics of hostipitality, whereby hostility is the overriding reaction to the asylum seeker.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is often presented either as a post-Sec... more The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is often presented either as a post-Second World War institution, or a Cold-War institution, but its origins within colonialism are rarely discussed. However, the UNHCR and the 1951 Refugee Convention are products of the colonial era. This thesis engages with the colonial legacy in the international refugee regime, to analyse how practices of colonialism are still emerging in the relationship between the host state and the refugee. Focusing specifically on how practices of language and silence control and determine the refugee regime, the thesis adopts a postcolonial framework to analyse the refugee regime at three levels. Firstly, it examines the international level, with a focus on the UNHCR itself and the construction of the 1951 Convention, viewing the use of language and silence in the construction of the refugee definition. Secondly, it turns to the regional level to examine how language employed here can advance our understanding and fill in the gaps of the 1951 Convention. Thirdly, it focuses at the state level with a detailed analyses of the British and Kenyan refugee regimes, examining how practices of language, silence, and labelling have effectively marginalised the would-be refugee, establishing idealised notions of what a genuine asylum seeker, ‘bogus’ refugee, or victim should be. The thesis culminates with a call to acknowledge the colonial legacy of the refugee regime, and bring about a ‘colonial turn’, arguing that colonialism, cannot and should not be viewed as a contained historical event. Colonialism shaped and affected both the coloniser and the colonised, and the othering that enabled colonialism, is still continuing and encompasses not only the colonial other, but the foreign other. For the thesis argues that to observe the refugee regime is to observe colonialism in action.
International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 2015
Reviewed by : Gillian McFadyen, Aberystwyth UniversitySince the beginning of 2015 alone, internat... more Reviewed by : Gillian McFadyen, Aberystwyth UniversitySince the beginning of 2015 alone, international news has been dominated by debates on human rights, be it the migrant deaths on the Mediterranean sea, the threat of Boko Haram and the Islamic State to regions in Africa and the Middle East, the attacks on the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion as in the case of Charlie Hebdo and the Bangladeshi bloggers, or the recent debate and vote on gay marriage in Ireland. Human rights are continuously being challenged, debated, and in many instances, threatened. Although we are heading into the seventh decade since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, human rights remain a contentious issue within international politics.Accordingly, Daniel P.L. Chong's Debating Human Rights is a welcome intervention. The ethos of the book is to challenge the dialogue surrounding human rights by offering critical and creative engagement with how we understand, implement, and uphold them. Chong reminds us that "the boundaries of what we call 'human rights' are still shifting and open to interpretation" (242). Through his work, he challenges the traditional approach and aims to create new spaces to debate.The book is divided into four parts: the global human rights system; civil and political rights; economic and social rights; and a concluding part on advancing human rights through debate. Across these four parts, Chong has written 14 chapters, allowing the book to cover a wide array of content that is historical, theoretical, and empirical in nature. The first seven chapters address the global human rights system and provide the reader with a brief overview of the main histories, institutions, philosophies, and responsibilities within the human rights debates. Part two, on civil and political rights, has four chapters that treat in depth a key human rights debate. One chapter is dedicated to terrorism, one to freedom of speech, one to the right to an abortion, and one to female circumcision. Part three, on economic and social rights, includes chapters dedicated to food, housing and health care, transnational corporations, the right to health, and a final discussion on states and foreign aid. The concluding part raises a call to "advance human rights through debate" (241). The disputes surrounding human rights are still as important, 70 years on from the UDHR, and Chong emphasizes that many "roadblocks" to progress remain; thus the need to continue debating human rights.Each chapter provides an introduction to a human rights debate and then adopts two opposing arguments, which Chong describes as "more than opinions; they are making theoretical and empirical claims about how the world really works" (3). In developing the arguments, Chong tends to ground the debates within standard international relations theories: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. …
Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 2018