IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/polsoc/v38y2010i3p408-429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Undocumented Migrants and Resistance in the Liberal State

Author

Listed:
  • Antje Ellermann

    (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, ellermann@politics.ubc.ca)

Abstract

This article explores the possibility of resistance under conditions of extreme state power in liberal democracies. It examines the strategies of migrants without legal status who, when threatened with one of the most awesome powers of the liberal state—expulsion—shed their legal identity in order to escape the state’s reach. Remarkably, in doing so, they often succeed in preventing the state from exercising its sovereign powers. The article argues that liberal states are uniquely constrained in their dealing with undocumented migrants. Not only are they forced to operate within the constraints of the international legal order—making repatriation contingent on the possession of identity documents—but the liberal state is also constitutionally limited in its exercise of coercion against the individual. The article concludes that it is those individuals who have the weakest claims against the liberal state that are most able to constrain its exercise of sovereignty.

Suggested Citation

  • Antje Ellermann, 2010. "Undocumented Migrants and Resistance in the Liberal State," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(3), pages 408-429, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:38:y:2010:i:3:p:408-429
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329210373072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0032329210373072
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0032329210373072?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:38:y:2010:i:3:p:408-429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.