The Complex Problems of Governmentality from the Perspective of Passports and Visas

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • パスポート・ビザからみた統治性の諸問題
  • パスポート・ビザからみた統治性の諸問題--「e-パスポートによる移動の加速・管理の深化」と「アフリカ大陸への封じ込め」
  • パスポート ビザ カラ ミタ トウチセイ ノ ショモンダイ e パスポート ニ ヨル イドウ ノ カソク カンリ ノ シンカ ト アフリカ タイリク エ ノ フウジコメ
  • 「e-パスポートによる移動の加速・管理の深化」と「アフリカ大陸への封じ込め」
  • Acceleration of Mobility and Deepening of Management through e-Passport and Containment of Migrants into African Continent

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Abstract

In our global age, nation-states face a dilemma between promotion of flow by connecting to world economy for their prosperity and cautious and strict management of moving people for their security. In response to this issue, each county utilizes the combination of passports and visas which have a complex function to regulate or accelerate the movement of people.<br>In the first half of this paper, I examine the complex functions that passports and visas have. Regarding the acceleration and regulation of people in moving, a number of countries have moved on to the standardization of biometric travel documents such as e-passports through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to solve the contradiction. This standardization can be achieved by the power and technologies of the neoliberal security industry. On the other hand, some countries use different criteria for different countries to regulate the flow of people from each country. For example, every other national who belong to states which have ratified the Schengen Acquis is not even required a passport. For nationals of some countries, such as U. S., Japan, Australia, Canada and many countries in Latin America, only passport is required. Nationals of other countries, in the Middle East and Africa, are required both passport and visa. Also, passengers in airports contribute to reproduce the World Order by adjusting themselves to complex rules of passport, visa and airport. These techniques can be regarded as governance tools. We then also grasp such arrangements as States, Regional Organization (EU), ICAO, the Security Industry, Airports, and Passengers through Michel Foucault's concept of “Governmentality.” I focus on the word of “Global Interoperability” in the document of ICAO to observe the management of bodies or “Global Bare Life.”<br>In the second half of the paper, I shed light on those who go beyond the south boundaries of Schengen from the African continent to investigate how the containment of people works. Some of them attempted to reach the Canary Islands of Spain, to get into EU space, in many cases on vulnerable ships, because of the closure of Ceuta and Melilla. They were obviously illegal immigrants from the start. Due to the strict regulation policies of EU and expensive tickets and visas, it is extremely difficult to be legal immigrant from some countries in Africa. That is why they dump all of their ID cards, such as driver's licenses and passports; otherwise they will be surely deported to their original country. There is a huge gap between a “valuable” passport and “valueless” one. Considering the reasons why they go beyond the African continent, I try to find their incentives into face-to-face communication and the “spectacle” of Europe. Such information ignites their desire to move. To prevent their migration, FRONTEX of EU and satellites search from the sea, sky and space. We thus have to consider the vertical geopolitics of surveillance and multi-level governance of population.<br>Finally, I ensure the strengthening the multi-layered system of management of population within the world order, whereas I set eight areas in terms of passports and visas which should be probed in the future.

Journal

  • International Relations

    International Relations 2009 (155), 155_126-147, 2009

    JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

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