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Chapter 3 - Human Dignity

The Pervasiveness of Death and Vulnerability

from Part I - The Production of Death and Vulnerability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2020

Vicki Squire
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
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Summary

This chapter shifts from an analysis of the governing practices through which death and vulnerability are produced and normalised, to an exploration of the ways in which such practices are grounded in racialised processes of dehumanisation. Specifically, it considers the ways in which pervasive processes of animalisation, as well as the pervasiveness of death and vulnerability, relate to contemporary and longer-standing debates surrounding human dignity. It is in a context marked by what Chapter 2 referred to as the toleration of biophysical violence that an appeal to the dignity of people on the move has been mobilised with particular potency. This chapter considers the potential of human dignity as a critical conceptual framework for contestations over what it means to be human, while also reflecting on the ways in which the concept’s mobilisation by various governing authorities further marks the toleration of biophysical violence and perpetuates the normalisation of death and vulnerability. Situating the concept within a modern European tradition of humanism, the chapter shows how human dignity invokes a longer-standing tension between the hierarchical differentiation of worthy and unworthy people on the one hand, and the universal levelling of all people as equal on the other. By exploring the ways in which such tensions play out through racialised practices of governing migration that dehumanise people on the move, the chapter highlights the ongoing significance of a modern European tradition of humanism to conceptions of dignity mobilised during the so-called Mediterranean migration crisis. Concluding Part I of the book by drawing attention to the failure of governing practices to fully master various unruly social and physical forces, the chapter suggests that the ‘Mediterranean migration crisis’ might be understood as nothing less than a breakdown of modern European humanism itself.

Type
Chapter
Information
Europe's Migration Crisis
Border Deaths and Human Dignity
, pp. 76 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Human Dignity
  • Vicki Squire, University of Warwick
  • Book: Europe's Migration Crisis
  • Online publication: 16 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108883696.005
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  • Human Dignity
  • Vicki Squire, University of Warwick
  • Book: Europe's Migration Crisis
  • Online publication: 16 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108883696.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Human Dignity
  • Vicki Squire, University of Warwick
  • Book: Europe's Migration Crisis
  • Online publication: 16 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108883696.005
Available formats
×