Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the ways in which uncertainty has become a constitutive element of a subjectivity defined as “refugeeness”. By presenting the “mood of precariousness” invading the everyday lives of refugees in Turkey it will question the ways in which uncertainty also serves as a governing mechanism

Paper long abstract:

There is no doubt that forced migration has many causes, occurs in different contexts, acts upon diverse peoples and lands them in different predicaments, which shape their displacement experience and identity processes. However idiosyncratic one's experiences of events leading to or proceeding forced displacement might be, though, labels have structuring consequences in real life. Globalized discursive and institutional mechanisms have led to the production of a universalized and standardized "refugee" identity that has come to be characterized as a condition of homelessness, statelessness and loss of identity, which in turn serve as the main frames of reference for those displaced in making sense of their daily lives, suffering and predicament (Soguk 1999; Malkki 1995). In this paper, based on fieldwork conducted in Turkey, I argue that uncertainty is also a constitutive element of a subjectivity defined as "refugeeness." The detailed legal and institutional mechanisms set in place to determine refugee status, combined with the highly peculiar and restrictive asylum policies of the Turkish state justified by "security" concerns, situate refugees in an extremely ambiguous predicament and equally serve as a constant reminder of the uncertainty of their status. This "mood of precariousness" invading the everyday lives of refugees in Turkey, has a powerful governing effect. Refugees arriving in Turkey are contained and de-mobilized through uncertainty and indefinite waiting, which in turn, can serve as a psychological deterrence mechanism against seeking 'legal' asylum. As such, this paper also seeks to explore the ways in which uncertainty serves as a governing mechanism.