Description
Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking new study, Nick Gill provides a conceptually innovative account of the ways in which indifference to the desperation and hardship faced by thousands of migrants fleeing persecution and exploitation comes about.
- Features original, unpublished empirical material from four Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded projects
- Challenges the consensus that border controls are necessary or desirable in contemporary society
- Demonstrates how immigration decision makers are immersed in a suffocating web of institutionalized processes that greatly hinder their objectivity and limit their access to alternative perspectives
- Theoretically informed throughout, drawing on the work of a range of social theorists, including Max Weber, Zygmunt Bauman, Emmanuel Levinas, and Georg Simmel
Table of ContentsSeries 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
