Not Drowning, Waving: Images, History, and the Representation of Asylum Seekers

Abstract

Since Jeremy Bentham 200 years ago, the concept of law in the developed world has been dominated by a thoroughgoing consequentialism. The purpose of the law, according to Bentham and all those who follow in his footsteps, can be summed up in a single word: utility. Law is thought of not as a symbolic or normative structure so much as a system that causes changes in behaviour by instilling pain or pleasure. This consequentialist logic is based on the assumption that we know, by and large, what effects flow from what causes and can therefore accurately calibrate the consequences on behaviour of any particular legal change. Our actions are intentional and their consequences are predictable. Of course, this is precisely the arrogance behind such a philosophy. Migration law provides a rich tapestry to demonstrate the ways in which our legal intentions and actions bear many, and often gravely counter-productive, fruit. The pages of this volume are devoted to demonstrating the futility, paradox, or irony of a more complex relationship between intention and consequence. Show more