In this groundbreaking new study of attitudes towards marginalized groups in Western society, Nick Gill provides a conceptually innovative account of the ways in which indifference and insensitivity to desperation and hardship comes about. Taking UK asylum laws as its case study, and supported by survey and interview evidence obtained over the past decade, this book tells the story of immigration decision makers and the institutionalized spatial processes that limit and steer their agency. In addition to detailed illustrations of the flaws inherent in contemporary immigration administration, Gill provides an original theory of the relationship between distance and indifference to human suffering that is both theoretically informed by, and challenging to, the works of social theorists like Max Weber, Zygmunt Bauman, Emmanuel Levinas and Georg Simmel. In doing so, Gill questions the consensus that border controls are necessary or desirable in contemporary society, making Nothing Personal? a provocative and important addition to the contemporary conversation on immigration.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Series Editors' Preface viii
List of Figures ix
Acronyms xi
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
2 Moral Distance and Bureaucracy 21
3 Distant Bureaucrats 48
4 Distance at Close Quarters 76
5 Indifference Towards Suffering Others During Sustained Contact 107
6 Indifference and Emotions 135
7 Examining Compassion 156
8 Conclusion 179
Methodological Appendix 191
References 196
Index 216
