Fixing State Vision: Interoperability, Biometrics, and Identity Management in the EU

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building on Scott’s notion of identity as a key concept in early modern statehood, this paper historically contextualises and analyses the current political re-problematisation of identity in the EU. Engaging the recently adopted interoperability initiative that is set to biometrically verify and cross-validate identity records between all European border management, migration, and security databases, it argues that interoperability presents a shift from traditional modes of identity production at the border towards a digital space of identity management. Such identity management is predicated on the establishment of a biometric super-layer structure that cuts across databases without dissolving their legal foundations and introduces a new mode of ‘truth’ production in the form of a dedicated ‘identity confirmation file’ that is supposed to re-introduce a reliable baseline for the government of the Schengen area.