Asylum in Austere Times: Instability, Privatization and Experimentation within the UK Asylum Dispersal System

Darling, Jonathan

Abstract

In 2010, the UK government passed contracts for the provision of dispersal accommodation and reception services for asylum seekers to three private providers. This article explores the causes and consequences of this process, arguing that dispersal has been reshaped through a confluence of ‘austerity urbanism’ and privatization. The article draws on fieldwork in four cities (Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sunderland), including interviews with local authority representatives, politicians, and asylum and refugee support services. The article highlights the production of instability within asylum dispersal as an effect of austerity and privatization. As a result, we witness a narrative of political neglect, shrinking accountability and the slow recession of support services and expertise. Whilst instability has often been a common facet of asylum policy in the UK, austerity and privatization have meant that a limited concern with the social needs of asylum seekers has been replaced with an increasingly revanchist agenda.

Citation

Darling, J. (2016). Asylum in Austere Times: Instability, Privatization and Experimentation within the UK Asylum Dispersal System. Journal of Refugee Studies, 29(4), 483-505. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/few038

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Dec 26, 2016
• Publication Date: Dec 26, 2016
• Deposit Date: May 29, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 29, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Refugee Studies
• Print ISSN: 0951-6328
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-6925
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 483-505
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/few038
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1358146