States in a World of Asylum Seekers: Agency, Rights, Security

Abstract

Chapter 3 established the value of a performative approach to conceptualize security, attending to human rights through the prism of migration. This chapter looks in detail at the development of the right to seek asylum from persecution. As was noted in Chapter 2, it is necessary to problematize the dichotomy between forced and voluntary migration to challenge immigration categories that render some people ‘illegal’ or undermine potential asylum claims. I turn in this chapter to the agency-structure dynamic as it manifests in the act of seeking asylum. This focus is key to developing the iteration of performative security because, as I argue below, performativity relies on agency.