The meaning and use of identity papers

Migration policies inevitably rest on bureaucratic responses concerned with the use of identity papers, visas, passports and other forms of paperwork. In research looking at movement between North-West Zambia and Angola, in Zambia, a very striking contrast was observed between the perspectives of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bakewell, O
Format: Working paper
Language:English
Published: International Migration Institute 2007
Subjects:
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author Bakewell, O
author_facet Bakewell, O
author_sort Bakewell, O
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description Migration policies inevitably rest on bureaucratic responses concerned with the use of identity papers, visas, passports and other forms of paperwork. In research looking at movement between North-West Zambia and Angola, in Zambia, a very striking contrast was observed between the perspectives of the state and those of individuals on the use and meaning of papers. The former tended to see these papers as symbols of nationality and residence that people should feel privileged to hold. While some of the villagers took a similar view, others focused on the function of identity papers - what difference having (or not having) a set of papers makes to what you can do or not do. This contrast between heartfelt and handheld notions of nationality results in different expectations of behaviour and policy responses.
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spelling oxford-uuid:877d9681-fe88-423c-bed7-778432b9fd9d2022-03-26T22:10:56ZThe meaning and use of identity papersWorking paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:877d9681-fe88-423c-bed7-778432b9fd9dMigrationEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetInternational Migration Institute2007Bakewell, OMigration policies inevitably rest on bureaucratic responses concerned with the use of identity papers, visas, passports and other forms of paperwork. In research looking at movement between North-West Zambia and Angola, in Zambia, a very striking contrast was observed between the perspectives of the state and those of individuals on the use and meaning of papers. The former tended to see these papers as symbols of nationality and residence that people should feel privileged to hold. While some of the villagers took a similar view, others focused on the function of identity papers - what difference having (or not having) a set of papers makes to what you can do or not do. This contrast between heartfelt and handheld notions of nationality results in different expectations of behaviour and policy responses.
spellingShingle Migration
Bakewell, O
The meaning and use of identity papers
title The meaning and use of identity papers
title_full The meaning and use of identity papers
title_fullStr The meaning and use of identity papers
title_full_unstemmed The meaning and use of identity papers
title_short The meaning and use of identity papers
title_sort meaning and use of identity papers
topic Migration
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