Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how actors in police encounters employ categories of otherness - particularly the category migrant - and how these relate to legal statuses. It discusses emic uses of analytic categories and the rationalities of emphasising otherness by both police officers and (non-)citizens.

Paper long abstract:

While police encounters are sites at which migrants' legal statuses are being produced, they are also sites at which their categorisation as migrants is being negotiated - whether actors are perceived as migrants in the first place. While the former is fixed in writing, the latter is situational, fluid and affective. The category migrant is also confounded with categories of cultural difference, ethnicity and race. Surprisingly, these categorisations are used by both sides; the German police increasingly recruits people who describe themselves as migrants, and some do not even hold German citizenship.

Based on ethnographic fieldwork on police-(non-)citizen interactions in Germany, this paper explores how the involved actors employ categories such as migrant, cultural Other, foreigner, and more. Instead of using them as analytic categories, the paper will study them as emic ones. Labelling practices by police officers are highly contested and scrutinised, and these interactions are characterised by stark asymmetries regarding power and knowledge. However, the paper also develops how both (non-)citizens and police officers employ these categories as a heuristic form of knowledge production, grounded in everyday experiences; these categories serve to differentiate people, emphasising certain differences while ignoring others (gender, class, etc.).

In what situations do actors employ the aforementioned categories, and which differentiations are excluded? How can (non-)citizens oppose, manipulate or subvert these categorisations? Lastly, how do these (informal) categorisations relate to legal statuses and work exigencies?