Sanctuary city as mobilising metaphor: how sanctuary articulates urban governance

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article interprets sanctuary cities as mobilising metaphors, which are given significance at particular moments to ameliorate frictions in urban governance. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, the article presents the first UK city to self-designate as a ‘City of Sanctuary’, Sheffield, to shed new light on the meaning and effects of contemporary sanctuary cities. Inspired by the anthropology of policy, I shift attention from definitions of ‘sanctuary’ to trace how and why the ‘City of Sanctuary’ term emerged, who labelled the city in this way, for what purpose and with what effects. An ethnographically informed reading of sanctuary cities is crucial to tease out sanctuary’s possibilities but also the complex processes through which governing systems use the term ‘City of Sanctuary’ to extinguish practices animated by radical potential. The article contributes to sanctuary scholarship by demonstrating that sanctuary cities are not necessarily antagonistic to national exclusionary policies. The article also builds on urban migration governance literature by exploring the challenges of shifting the meaning of local migration policy from ‘welcome’ to ‘non-cooperation’.