The Spectacle of the Non-Fixation Policy - the Encounter between Law Enforcement and Cop-Watchers

Abstract

This thesis explores the multifaceted nature and extent of the spectacles related to the non-fixation policy in Calais, focusing on the roles played by politicians, law enforcement, and Human Rights Observers in their orchestration. Employing a constructivist grounded theory approach informed by six months of participant observation, this research captures the real-time dynamics of these spectacles, including their unseen backstages. Through the concept of the spectacle of evictions and a multifaceted comprehension of violence, the researcher approaches the non-fixation policy from a unique conceptual as well as empirical stance. The study reveals how the non-fixation policy is shaped by socio-political landscapes and border securitization discourses, extending the border beyond physical barriers, discursively and performatively portraying migrants as threats, thus legitimizing stringent border management. Legal complexities and the use of 'flagrance delicto' for evictions highlight ethical and legal dilemmas, perpetuating violence, uncertainty, and exhaustion. Human rights organizations criticize not only the non-fixation policy, but the disorganization of aid pointing to systemic harassment, intimidation, and criminalization of humanitarian and solidary actors. The visual spectacle of policing through large convoys and deployment of the riot-police Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité (CRS) highlights the performative and violent spectacle of evictions and the non-fixation policy. Their body capital subjects observers like people on the move to truncated violence, promising actualization of force in case of resistance. The encounters between HRO and law enforcement are thus characterized by intimidation and violence. It is a dual spectacle, as HRO subjects law enforcement to the humiliation, intimidation, and violence incorporated in counter-surveillance tactics. Hence, this counter-surveillance, intended to ensure accountability and work as a pacifier and defense, often escalates tensions, revealing conflicts over legitimacy and justice. The policy's implementation, the distribution of images, and the spectacles born from it, subject people on the move to a variety of violence, and this violence is politicized as discursive, performative, and visual spectacles by politicians, law enforcement, and HRO. The research concludes that the spectacles that emerge from the non-fixation policy and encounters between law enforcement and HRO are visual, political, performative, discursive, and violent, created, reinforced, and contested, a self-reinforcing spectacle driven by exchanges of humiliation, intimidation, and violence. This calls for a critical re-evaluation of border management practices, advocating for humane approaches that prioritize human rights and dignity. By shedding light on the dynamics of border management in Calais, the study offers valuable insights for addressing migration challenges globally, urging a shift from violent spectacles to compassionate solutions

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A master thesis from Aalborg University

The Spectacle of the Non-Fixation Policy - the Encounter between Law Enforcement and Cop-Watchers