Dealing with Law in Migration Control
| Published date | 01 June 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663913510927 |
| Author | Alexis Spire,Maybritt Jill Alpes |
| Date | 01 June 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Dealing with Law in
Migration Control: The
Powers of Street-level
Bureaucrats at French
Consulates
Maybritt Jill Alpes
Free University Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alexis Spire
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, France
Abstract
This article examines how street-level bureaucrats within migration control use their
scope for discretionary powers. On the basis of two ethnographic studies of French con-
sulates in Yaounde
´and Tunis, we argue that state agents’ practices are significantly
shaped by organizational constraints such as how decision-making processes are
organized and the bureaucratic habitus, including the fear of fraud. Like other street-
level bureaucrats, consular agents are able to draw on legal frameworks in a flexible and
instrumental manner. Yet, in the field of migration policy, their scope for discretionary
decision making is wider and influenced by their belief that they are acting to defend the
national interest. This gives a more political dimension to the way such agents deal with
law.
Keywords
Bureaucracies, discretionary powers, fraud, habitus, law, migration control, street-level
bureaucracies
Corresponding author:
Maybritt Jill Alpes, Faculty of Migration Law, Free University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV
Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Email: m.j.alpes@vu.nl
Social & Legal Studies
2014, Vol. 23(2) 261–274
ªThe Author(s) 2013
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0964663913510927
sls.sagepub.com
To continue reading
Request your trial