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E-book Disappearing Rooms : The Hidden Theaters of Immigration Law

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Penilaian

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When Spanish conquerors arrived in the Western Hemisphere, they took the bizarre step of presenting a formal argument to Indigenous people about the legal legitimacy of colonization. In a ritual that repeated itself across the Ameri cas, the conquistadors stood in front of people they planned to colo-nize and recited the text of a document known as the Requerimiento. The first part ofthis text established the moral authority of colonization in grand, universal terms, tracing Spain’s authority in the New World through a chain of authorized ventriloquists all the way back to God. The second part ofthe text promised “love and charity” to Native peoples who converted to Christian ity and recognized the authority ofthe Spanish Crown. The final part ofthe text threatened elimination, enslavement, and gratuitous violence to all those who refused to accept these terms (“[We] shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can”). The audience witnessing this ritual was then encouraged to ponder this information and provide consent.Disappearing Rooms: The Hidden Theaters of Immigration Law studies contemporary scenes in immigration courtrooms in the United States. This book is based on the years I spent participating in the immigration justice movement in vari ous roles: as a community organizer, Spanish-English interpreter, and member of a program that accompanies criminal-ized (im)migrants into immigration court.1 In these vari ous roles, I spent time in the bureaucratic offices and courtrooms where decisions about (im)migrants’ lives are made. As someone who studies performance, I thought about how these rooms function as little theaters. I thought about te arrangement of architectural features, lighting, images, sounds, timing, and movement in those spaces— the totality of expressive elements that filmmakers and theater producers call mise- en- scène. Immigration court-rooms are often hidden spaces that are either inaccessible to the public or simply unknown. But just because these spaces are hidden does not mean the law is not putting on a show. The purpose ofthis book is to study the kinds of shows the law produces in hidden spaces. Ifthe phrase hidden the-aters seems like a contradiction in terms, it provides an initial sense ofthe paradoxical dynamics of showing and hiding, appearing and disappearing, described in this book. As I sat in these strange corners ofthe state, these back alleys of government, I thought: If people understood what goes on in these rooms, they would never see immigration law the same way again.What is it about the mise-en-scène ofthe immigration courtroom that is so radicalizing? Improbable as it may sound, perhaps the best way to grasp the staging of an immigration courtroom is to think back to that legal ritual that took place five hundred years ago. As a defining feature of Spanish colonialism, the Requerimiento has been invoked to teach many lessons about the nature of coloniality. Among these lessons is that when the law is founded on hopeless contradictions, its theatrical presenta tion becomes strange.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

323.631 CAS d

Penerbit

Belgium : Duke University Press., 2023

Deskripsi Fisik

201 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

978147802426

Klasifikasi

323.631

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Asylum

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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