Waiting as a disciplinary space and subjective construction in the Spanish asylum

Abstract

This article analyzes the Spanish asylum procedure, taking into account the exercise of government over those who request international protection, with the aim of delving into the centrality of waiting as a mechanism that disciplines and introduces asylum seekers into recognition categories. Based on a qualitative methodology, based on in-depth interviews with technical personnel and forcibly displaced persons, a field work is developed that results in the possibility of understanding the asylum seeker as a “patient”, in the sense of subject evaluated and in that of being a waiting subject. The starting hypothesis raises the possibility of understanding the temporality established by the asylum procedure as a mechanism that positions the applicant for protection in relation to the expected recognition, developing a central role in its subjective construction at destination. It is concluded that waiting produces manageable subjects, not only for demonstrating a lack of protection in the country of origin, but also for adjusting to the temporary demands of the procedure, noting that the State, while providing protection to an individual, is internationally constructed as humanitarian entity.