From the Publisher
“Time is more than the passing of minutes or hours. It is the space for love, arts, politics, passions, safety, connections, humanity. This compelling book illuminates time and its violent theft by state and corporate border bureaucracies. It is an analytical, provocative and necessary read.” (Prof Elizabeth Stanley, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
“This outstanding volume takes our understanding of state crime and the undocumented migration process in an important new direction. By employing the concept of temporality, Monish Bhatia and Vicky Canning have brought together an innovative group of scholars who, collectively, weaponise what they call ‘migrant time’. Through this lens of temporality each of the chapters offers powerful new insights into the state’s repertoire of violence against asylum seekers and refugees while simultaneously bringing to the fore the resistance that this ‘hidden’ form of repression engenders in those subject to its harms” (Prof. Penny Green, Queen Mary University, UK)
“In this remarkable volume, we see vividly how time itself is an object and target of power, and rather than a natural fact, is produced through governance. By taking migration as their central framework of analysis, the contributors to this book provide a profound and memorable critical investigation of state power and the subtle violence of bureaucracy. This book is a landmark event in consolidating the incipient field of critical studies of temporality, and in situating human mobility and borders at the heart of understanding the place of time in social domination” (Prof. Nicholas De Genova, University of Houston, USA)
“Time, and the loss of time, is not just incidental in the treatment of migrants who are subject to state power. It is structural and directed as well as emphatic in its effects. This powerful book driven by two renowned scholars, Monish Bhatia and Victoria Canning, delivers this message in a clear and creative manner through chapters from the frontlines of migration scholarship. A must read” (Dr. Devyani Prabhat, University of Bristol, UK)
“Bhatia and Victoria Canning bring together a stellar group of scholars from around the world to discuss how punitive migration laws steal time – which is literally our most valuable resource. This study of temporality is chock full of useful theoretical insights. Migrants are at the mercy of the host state and often have no choice but to wait for decisions, appointments, interviews, and legal and policy changes. Migrants spend countless hours building families, friendship networks, and communities – only to have that stolen away when they are detained and deported. While in immigration detention, detainees count time up – instead of down as they do in prison – as their release dates are nearly always uncertain. These are just some of the ways the authors and editors theorize temporality in the migration context. This beautifully put together collection is a must-read for any student of migration” (Professor Tanya Golash Boza, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, USA)
