Siobhán McGuirk | Goldsmiths, University of London (original) (raw)

Books by Siobhán McGuirk

Blurb: This explosive new volume brings together a lively cast of academics, activists, journali... more Blurb:

This explosive new volume brings together a lively cast of academics, activists, journalists, artists, and people directly impacted by asylum regimes to explain how current practices of asylum align with the neoliberal moment and to present their transformative visions for alternative systems and processes.

Through essays, artworks, photographs, infographics, and illustrations, Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry regards the global asylum regime as an industry characterized by profit-making activity: brokers who facilitate border crossings for a fee; contractors and firms that erect walls, fences, and watchtowers while lobbying governments for bigger “security” budgets; corporations running private detention centers and “managing” deportations; private lawyers charging exorbitant fees; “expert” witnesses; and NGO staff establishing careers while placing asylum seekers into new regimes of monitored vulnerability.

Asylum for Sale challenges readers to move beyond questions of legal, moral, and humanitarian obligations that dominate popular debates regarding asylum seekers. Digging deeper, the authors focus on processes and actors often overlooked in mainstream analyses and on the trends increasingly rendering asylum available only to people with financial and cultural capital. Probing every aspect of the asylum process from crossings to aftermaths, the book provides an in-depth exploration of complex, international networks, policies, and norms that impact people seeking asylum around the world. In highlighting protest as well as profit, Asylum for Sale presents both critical analyses and proposed solutions for resisting and reshaping current and emerging immigration norms.

Book Chapters by Siobhán McGuirk

The Refugee Crisis and Religion: Secularism, Security and Hospitality in Question. Luca Mavelli and Erin Wilson (eds.)

The chapter is divided into four sections. First, we describe the theological dichotomy introduce... more The chapter is divided into four sections. First, we describe the theological dichotomy introduced above and broadly sketch its relationship to LGBT human rights and migration. Second, we explore those dynamics with specific reference to Uganda and the United States. Third, we present a case study of one church-based LGBT asylum support program to illustrate both volunteers’ motivations for carrying out this work and asylum seekers’ response to faith-based efforts. We conclude by summarizing key considerations for policymakers and practitioners.

Co-author: Max Niedzwiecki

Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry, 2020

The Introduction to 'Asylum for Sale' situates the legal norm of asylum in a historical context t... more The Introduction to 'Asylum for Sale' situates the legal norm of asylum in a historical context that considers how neoliberal capitalism has impacted physical routes and categorical avenues to refuge in the Global North for people fleeing persecution around the world.

Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry, 2020

In the United States, non-governmental organisations provide legal and social support to LGBTQ pe... more In the United States, non-governmental organisations provide legal and social support to LGBTQ people seeking asylum. In this chapter from 'Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry' I ask: how do ideas about 'deserving' immigrants structure that support – and how might they further marginalise people seeking asylum? Moreover, how do academics re-inscribe those same narratives?

Book description: Queer Activism After Marriage Equality focuses on the implications of legal sa... more Book description:

Queer Activism After Marriage Equality focuses on the implications of legal same-sex marriage for LGBTQ social movements and organizing. It asks how the agendas, strategies, structures and financing of LGBTQ movement organizations are changing now that same-sex marriage is legal in some countries.

Building on a major conference held in 2016 entitled "After Marriage: The Future of LGBTQ Politics and Scholarship," this collection draws from critical and intersectional perspectives to explore the questions and issues facing the next chapter of LGBTQ activism and social movement work. It comprises academic papers, international case studies, edited transcripts of selected conference sessions, and interviews with activists. These take a critical look at the high-profile work of national and state-wide equality organizations, analyzing the costs of winning marriage equality and what that has meant for other LGBTQ activism. In addition to this, the book examines other forms of queer activism that have existed for years in the shadows of the marriage equality movement, as well as new social movements that have developed more recently. Finally, it looks to examples of activism in other countries and considers lessons U.S. activists can learn from them.

By presenting research on these and other trends, this volume helps translate queer critiques advanced during the marriage campaigns into a framework for ongoing critical research in the after-marriage period.

Papers by Siobhán McGuirk

Studies in Home and Community Science, 2020

Since their invention, picture postcards have played a key role in circulating racist and imperia... more Since their invention, picture postcards have played a key role in circulating racist and imperial ideologies. In this paper, I explore how experiments in producing and exchanging postcards used in the Global Gender and Cultures of Equality (GlobalGRACE) project attempted to subvert traditional anthropological and colonial perspectives. Drawing on examples created for our exhibition Exchanging Cultures of Equality held in London in 2018, I discuss how GlobalGRACE researchers in six different countries individually and collectively sought to disrupt and challenge historical imaginaries using postcards. The creative process required us to consider how we might differently visualize, articulate, and publicly share ideas about our work and field sites while also asserting the value of transnational exchange. I argue that critical reflection on the tensions and challenges that arose from this transnational collaborative experiment are both productive and necessary in informing further and new decolonising engagements with postcards.

Allegra Lab, 2019

Reflections on the use of postcards – an everyday object that has played a key role in imperialis... more Reflections on the use of postcards – an everyday object that has played a key role in imperialist expansions – as a curatorial device to elicit critical reflection on the colonising power of images and communications

In this paper, I demonstrate how statist logics concerning acceptable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and... more In this paper, I demonstrate how statist logics concerning acceptable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) immigrants permeate civic spheres, creating new forms of exclusion for asylum seekers in the United States. Existing research on US asylum policy and procedures as they pertain to LGBT claimants suggests that a “gay enough” litmus test typifies U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudications, such that officers expect claimants to engage in conspicuous consumption of stereotypical commodities and culture and to appear visibly “LGBT,” either through gender non‐conformity or by being “out.” My analysis focuses on the social as well as legal lives of LGBT asylum seekers in the United States. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data collected at specialist NGOs, I argue that limited ideas about LGBT subjectivity often structure NGO workers’ attitudes and practices in ways that echo USCIS criteria for granting asylum. I demonstrate how NGO client selection and intake processes assume homonormative ideals and subtly yet effectively replicate existing adjudication norms. Within ostensibly non‐governmental spaces, LGBT asylum seekers experience suspicion, surveillance, and pressure to conform to NGO workers’ expectations of “credible” claimants. Contrary to NGOs’ stated intentions, these processes extend, rather than challenge, existing barriers to asylum.

PoLAR, 41: 4-18. doi:10.1111/plar.12250

Refugee Hosts, 2018

How can representations of local communities as particularly ‘hospitable’ and ‘welcoming’ spaces ... more How can representations of local communities as particularly ‘hospitable’ and ‘welcoming’ spaces in fact obscure complex realities of exclusion? In this contribution to the Refugee Hosts' Representations of Displacement series, Siobhán McGuirk explores the ways in which NGO and media reports have (mis)represented sexual minority refugees’ arrival in an “inclusive” community in the USA characterised by rainbow flag “gaybourhoods” and welcoming “safe spaces.” In contrast to these dominant NGO and media narratives however, McGuirk’s research suggests that the reality of fleeing home, and of being welcomed into US “gaybourhoods,” is not a linear process of travelling from “fear to safety”: instead, it is a complex process of (un)welcome and insecurity, where inclusion in certain communities is simultaneously framed by experiences of racism and xenophobia.

Australian Options (ISSN: 1324-0749), 2017

Essay on the social fragmentations and US norms which laid the groundwork for a Donal Trump victo... more Essay on the social fragmentations and US norms which laid the groundwork for a Donal Trump victory in the 2016 US Presidential Election

The 'It Gets Better Project' (IGBP) is an online anti-homophobic bullying initiative directed at ... more The 'It Gets Better Project' (IGBP) is an online anti-homophobic bullying initiative directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. To date, 50,000 user-generated IGBP videos have attracted over 50 million views. In this critical discourse analysis of IGBP videos in the "Faith" category, I note how the projected ideologies therein overlap with and depart from conservative Christian rhetoric in surprising ways. I ask what gets better, for whom, and how that might happen. I then compare messages uploaded by laypeople and spokespeople of religious institutions. I argue that neoliberal assumptions are frequently evident in laypeople's emphases on individualism, economic success, urban spaces and heteronormative conceptions of time. Spokespeople, conversely, tend to emphasize community-based opposition to homophobia in the here and now. This ideological struggle highlights barriers to "it getting better" in the present but also creates space for politics of redistribution and an unexpected queering of societal norms.

Critical reading of the documentary film "God Loves Uganda" (2013).

Book Reviews by Siobhán McGuirk

Review of David A.B. Murray's latest book, for the Association for Feminist Anthropology.

Blurb: This explosive new volume brings together a lively cast of academics, activists, journali... more Blurb:

This explosive new volume brings together a lively cast of academics, activists, journalists, artists, and people directly impacted by asylum regimes to explain how current practices of asylum align with the neoliberal moment and to present their transformative visions for alternative systems and processes.

Through essays, artworks, photographs, infographics, and illustrations, Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry regards the global asylum regime as an industry characterized by profit-making activity: brokers who facilitate border crossings for a fee; contractors and firms that erect walls, fences, and watchtowers while lobbying governments for bigger “security” budgets; corporations running private detention centers and “managing” deportations; private lawyers charging exorbitant fees; “expert” witnesses; and NGO staff establishing careers while placing asylum seekers into new regimes of monitored vulnerability.

Asylum for Sale challenges readers to move beyond questions of legal, moral, and humanitarian obligations that dominate popular debates regarding asylum seekers. Digging deeper, the authors focus on processes and actors often overlooked in mainstream analyses and on the trends increasingly rendering asylum available only to people with financial and cultural capital. Probing every aspect of the asylum process from crossings to aftermaths, the book provides an in-depth exploration of complex, international networks, policies, and norms that impact people seeking asylum around the world. In highlighting protest as well as profit, Asylum for Sale presents both critical analyses and proposed solutions for resisting and reshaping current and emerging immigration norms.

The Refugee Crisis and Religion: Secularism, Security and Hospitality in Question. Luca Mavelli and Erin Wilson (eds.)

The chapter is divided into four sections. First, we describe the theological dichotomy introduce... more The chapter is divided into four sections. First, we describe the theological dichotomy introduced above and broadly sketch its relationship to LGBT human rights and migration. Second, we explore those dynamics with specific reference to Uganda and the United States. Third, we present a case study of one church-based LGBT asylum support program to illustrate both volunteers’ motivations for carrying out this work and asylum seekers’ response to faith-based efforts. We conclude by summarizing key considerations for policymakers and practitioners.

Co-author: Max Niedzwiecki

Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry, 2020

The Introduction to 'Asylum for Sale' situates the legal norm of asylum in a historical context t... more The Introduction to 'Asylum for Sale' situates the legal norm of asylum in a historical context that considers how neoliberal capitalism has impacted physical routes and categorical avenues to refuge in the Global North for people fleeing persecution around the world.

Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry, 2020

In the United States, non-governmental organisations provide legal and social support to LGBTQ pe... more In the United States, non-governmental organisations provide legal and social support to LGBTQ people seeking asylum. In this chapter from 'Asylum for Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry' I ask: how do ideas about 'deserving' immigrants structure that support – and how might they further marginalise people seeking asylum? Moreover, how do academics re-inscribe those same narratives?

Book description: Queer Activism After Marriage Equality focuses on the implications of legal sa... more Book description:

Queer Activism After Marriage Equality focuses on the implications of legal same-sex marriage for LGBTQ social movements and organizing. It asks how the agendas, strategies, structures and financing of LGBTQ movement organizations are changing now that same-sex marriage is legal in some countries.

Building on a major conference held in 2016 entitled "After Marriage: The Future of LGBTQ Politics and Scholarship," this collection draws from critical and intersectional perspectives to explore the questions and issues facing the next chapter of LGBTQ activism and social movement work. It comprises academic papers, international case studies, edited transcripts of selected conference sessions, and interviews with activists. These take a critical look at the high-profile work of national and state-wide equality organizations, analyzing the costs of winning marriage equality and what that has meant for other LGBTQ activism. In addition to this, the book examines other forms of queer activism that have existed for years in the shadows of the marriage equality movement, as well as new social movements that have developed more recently. Finally, it looks to examples of activism in other countries and considers lessons U.S. activists can learn from them.

By presenting research on these and other trends, this volume helps translate queer critiques advanced during the marriage campaigns into a framework for ongoing critical research in the after-marriage period.

Studies in Home and Community Science, 2020

Since their invention, picture postcards have played a key role in circulating racist and imperia... more Since their invention, picture postcards have played a key role in circulating racist and imperial ideologies. In this paper, I explore how experiments in producing and exchanging postcards used in the Global Gender and Cultures of Equality (GlobalGRACE) project attempted to subvert traditional anthropological and colonial perspectives. Drawing on examples created for our exhibition Exchanging Cultures of Equality held in London in 2018, I discuss how GlobalGRACE researchers in six different countries individually and collectively sought to disrupt and challenge historical imaginaries using postcards. The creative process required us to consider how we might differently visualize, articulate, and publicly share ideas about our work and field sites while also asserting the value of transnational exchange. I argue that critical reflection on the tensions and challenges that arose from this transnational collaborative experiment are both productive and necessary in informing further and new decolonising engagements with postcards.

Allegra Lab, 2019

Reflections on the use of postcards – an everyday object that has played a key role in imperialis... more Reflections on the use of postcards – an everyday object that has played a key role in imperialist expansions – as a curatorial device to elicit critical reflection on the colonising power of images and communications

In this paper, I demonstrate how statist logics concerning acceptable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and... more In this paper, I demonstrate how statist logics concerning acceptable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) immigrants permeate civic spheres, creating new forms of exclusion for asylum seekers in the United States. Existing research on US asylum policy and procedures as they pertain to LGBT claimants suggests that a “gay enough” litmus test typifies U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudications, such that officers expect claimants to engage in conspicuous consumption of stereotypical commodities and culture and to appear visibly “LGBT,” either through gender non‐conformity or by being “out.” My analysis focuses on the social as well as legal lives of LGBT asylum seekers in the United States. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data collected at specialist NGOs, I argue that limited ideas about LGBT subjectivity often structure NGO workers’ attitudes and practices in ways that echo USCIS criteria for granting asylum. I demonstrate how NGO client selection and intake processes assume homonormative ideals and subtly yet effectively replicate existing adjudication norms. Within ostensibly non‐governmental spaces, LGBT asylum seekers experience suspicion, surveillance, and pressure to conform to NGO workers’ expectations of “credible” claimants. Contrary to NGOs’ stated intentions, these processes extend, rather than challenge, existing barriers to asylum.

PoLAR, 41: 4-18. doi:10.1111/plar.12250

Refugee Hosts, 2018

How can representations of local communities as particularly ‘hospitable’ and ‘welcoming’ spaces ... more How can representations of local communities as particularly ‘hospitable’ and ‘welcoming’ spaces in fact obscure complex realities of exclusion? In this contribution to the Refugee Hosts' Representations of Displacement series, Siobhán McGuirk explores the ways in which NGO and media reports have (mis)represented sexual minority refugees’ arrival in an “inclusive” community in the USA characterised by rainbow flag “gaybourhoods” and welcoming “safe spaces.” In contrast to these dominant NGO and media narratives however, McGuirk’s research suggests that the reality of fleeing home, and of being welcomed into US “gaybourhoods,” is not a linear process of travelling from “fear to safety”: instead, it is a complex process of (un)welcome and insecurity, where inclusion in certain communities is simultaneously framed by experiences of racism and xenophobia.

Australian Options (ISSN: 1324-0749), 2017

Essay on the social fragmentations and US norms which laid the groundwork for a Donal Trump victo... more Essay on the social fragmentations and US norms which laid the groundwork for a Donal Trump victory in the 2016 US Presidential Election

The 'It Gets Better Project' (IGBP) is an online anti-homophobic bullying initiative directed at ... more The 'It Gets Better Project' (IGBP) is an online anti-homophobic bullying initiative directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. To date, 50,000 user-generated IGBP videos have attracted over 50 million views. In this critical discourse analysis of IGBP videos in the "Faith" category, I note how the projected ideologies therein overlap with and depart from conservative Christian rhetoric in surprising ways. I ask what gets better, for whom, and how that might happen. I then compare messages uploaded by laypeople and spokespeople of religious institutions. I argue that neoliberal assumptions are frequently evident in laypeople's emphases on individualism, economic success, urban spaces and heteronormative conceptions of time. Spokespeople, conversely, tend to emphasize community-based opposition to homophobia in the here and now. This ideological struggle highlights barriers to "it getting better" in the present but also creates space for politics of redistribution and an unexpected queering of societal norms.

Critical reading of the documentary film "God Loves Uganda" (2013).