
Sanctuary, Sovereignty, Sacrifice
Canadian Sanctuary Incidents, Power, and Law
Randy K. Lippert(Author)
University of British Columbia Press
Will be published approx. on 1. May 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
266 pages
978-0-7748-1250-4 (ISBN)
Description
Facing immediate deportation, a lone Guatemalan migrant entered sanctuary in a Montreal church in December 1983. Thus began the practice of sanctuary in Canada. By 2003, thirty-six incidents involving 261 migrants had occurred nationwide.
Sanctuary, Sovereignty, Sacrifice closely examines sanctuary practice in Canada. Randy Lippert suggests that, far from being a coherent social movement, sanctuary practice is a localized and isolated phenomenon, and often not primarily religious in orientation. It is also remarkably successful - in every documented incident, state authorities were kept at bay and providers avoided arrest. In most cases, migrants also ultimately received legal status.
Drawing on theories of governmentality, Lippert traces the emergence of this practice to a shift in responsibility for refugees and immigrants from the state to churches and communities. Here sanctuary practices and spaces are shaped by a form of pastoral power that targets needs and operates through sacrifice, and by a sovereign power that is exceptional, territorial, and spectacular. Correspondingly, law plays a complex role in sanctuary, appearing variously as a form of oppression, a game, and a source of majestic authority that overshadows the state.
A thorough and original account of contemporary sanctuary practice, this book tackles theoretical and methodological questions in governmentality and socio-legal studies concerning methodology, nonliberal power, the role of legal narratives, and the nature of resistance.
Sanctuary, Sovereignty, Sacrifice will be of interest to scholars and students in socio-legal studies, criminology, sociology, political science, social history, anthropology, and religious studies, and will appeal to anyone interested in immigration and refugee law and policy.
Sanctuary, Sovereignty, Sacrifice closely examines sanctuary practice in Canada. Randy Lippert suggests that, far from being a coherent social movement, sanctuary practice is a localized and isolated phenomenon, and often not primarily religious in orientation. It is also remarkably successful - in every documented incident, state authorities were kept at bay and providers avoided arrest. In most cases, migrants also ultimately received legal status.
Drawing on theories of governmentality, Lippert traces the emergence of this practice to a shift in responsibility for refugees and immigrants from the state to churches and communities. Here sanctuary practices and spaces are shaped by a form of pastoral power that targets needs and operates through sacrifice, and by a sovereign power that is exceptional, territorial, and spectacular. Correspondingly, law plays a complex role in sanctuary, appearing variously as a form of oppression, a game, and a source of majestic authority that overshadows the state.
A thorough and original account of contemporary sanctuary practice, this book tackles theoretical and methodological questions in governmentality and socio-legal studies concerning methodology, nonliberal power, the role of legal narratives, and the nature of resistance.
Sanctuary, Sovereignty, Sacrifice will be of interest to scholars and students in socio-legal studies, criminology, sociology, political science, social history, anthropology, and religious studies, and will appeal to anyone interested in immigration and refugee law and policy.
Reviews / Votes
Randy Lippert's Sanctuary, Sovereignty and Sacrifice is an ambitious work that manages to successfully interrogate an empirical phenomena (sanctuary incidents) via a set of highly sophisticated theoretical concepts. Lippert's sophisticated theoretical engagement and empirical investigation are intellectually fruitful and politically timely - Amy Swiffen (The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology) The work is highly original, contributing to theory regarding governmentality, as well as to knowledge regarding Canadian sanctuary practices ... Altogether, a fascinating and complex account. - Susan Bibler Coutin, author of The Culture of Protest: Religious Activism and the U.S. Sanctuary MovementMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
7 tables
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
376 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7748-1250-4 (9780774812504)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Randy K. Lippert is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Windsor.
Content
Tables
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 Features of Canadian Sanctuary Incidents, 1983-2003
3 Advanced-Liberal Refugee Determination and Resettlement
4 Sanctuary as Sovereign Power
5 Sanctuary as Pastoral Power
6 Sanctuary and Law
7 Conclusion
Postscript
Appendix
Notes; Bibliography; Index
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 Features of Canadian Sanctuary Incidents, 1983-2003
3 Advanced-Liberal Refugee Determination and Resettlement
4 Sanctuary as Sovereign Power
5 Sanctuary as Pastoral Power
6 Sanctuary and Law
7 Conclusion
Postscript
Appendix
Notes; Bibliography; Index