Project summary
This project investigates the intersubjective, structural, epistemic and political dimensions of credibility in asylum determination regimes. It brings together an expert, highly focused, interdisciplinary team of Durham academics, from seven different departments and two faculties. This team will collate and examine primary and secondary research data on asylum cases from the UK and three European countries (Cyprus, Germany, Greece). We will combine our expertise in different methodologies to explore collaboratively how credibility pathways are constructed within asylum adjudication processes. We will focus on the role of legal and policy categories, the establishment of systems of knowledge, what constitutes evidence, patterns of evidence and interpretation, and the possibility of epistemic injustice. Our aims are to decipher the constituent elements of credibility politics and fill gaps in philosophies of (in)justice in UK and EU structures of protection. The project will provide the foundation for a large, collaborative funding bid aimed at improving our understanding of credibility procedures, their impacts on asylum policy, law, and the lived experience of refugees. At a time of growing restrictions towards refuge across Europe, improving our understanding of credibility is critical to advancing and protecting rights to asylum.
Term: Michaelmas
Principal Investigator: Dr Elisabeth Kirtsoglou (Anthropology) Principal Investigator: Dr Olga Demetriou (Government and International Affairs)