Local Practices of European Immigration: The “Right of Death and Power over Life” in German Asylum Discourses

Abstract

I draw on arguments put forward by Michel Foucault and other so-called poststructuralist theorists in order to elucidate contemporary local practices of European immigration governance from the perspective of the notions of governmentality and pastoral power. In particular, asylum politics and local discourses on asylum in Germany's northern-most province of Schleswig Holstein will be scrutinised from a post-foundational perspective. Local debates about the establishment of a home for newly arrived asylum seekers in Schleswig-Holstein's second largest city of Lübeck are at the centre of the analysis, which starts with the first public announcement of the plans by the provincial government on 21 April 2015, and ends with its eventual voting out by Lübeck's city assembly at the end of June 2015. On the basis of the analysis, broader ethical implications will be scrutinised. The conclusion summarises theoretical findings on community building and subjectification.