Społeczna konstrukcja wiarygodności cudzoziemca w procedurze uchodźczej
The Social Construction of Credibility: A Foreigner in the International Protection Procedure

Summary/Abstract: This article is devoted to symbolic violence occurring in the international protection procedure. The study focuses on the stages of the procedure in which the asylum-seeker is granted a chance to speak for themselves, and yet is unable to represent their case effectively due to sociocultural differences. As a result, even if their life situation qualifies them for refugee status, migration offices and courts are likely to issue a negative decision. Cases in which the failure to represent oneself results from sociocultural differences are described in the article as instances of symbolic violence. Following Dell Hymes and Katrijn Maryns, I stress the role of language-related inequality. I also employ Harold Garfinkel’s concept of degradation ceremonies in order to describe the ritual aspect of language use in statements of grounds for refusal of applications for international protection. The article is based on empirical research including a case study of an asylum-seeker family who applied for protection in Poland in the 2010s, participant observation in a free legal support centre run by a Warsaw-based NGO, and qualitative interviews with activists supporting refugees as their representatives and legal advisors.

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