Description
As this paper argues, to speak of an ‘aesthetics’ of a border entails discussing both its scopic and representational regimes. Examining how the border perceives and categorizes subjects, as well as how it itself is perceived as a ‘common-sense’ aesthetic object, the paper demonstrates how these dimensions of border aesthetics are deeply interwoven and foundational to the operation of a racialised border regime.
The November 2021 sinking of a migrant boat in the English Channel – a pivotal event that saw the highest death toll within the ‘small boats crisis’ – serves as a case study. This tragedy exposed the border’s politics of ‘selective in/visibility,’ where passengers were repeatedly denied rescue by French and British authorities over several hours on various dubious grounds. Discourses following the sinking reveal the perverse aesthetics of the humanitarian border, which simultaneously speaks of threats and victims, of defending against the wicked and rescuing the innocent, while pursuing a politics of death under the guise of protecting life.
