The Securitisation of Language Borders and the (Re)production of inequalities

Abstract

Abstract This article will focus on inequalities for migrants which are (re)produced by the promise of equality through citizenship and settlement test regimes. I theorize the links between language and borders by drawing on scholarship on security before offering an analysis of language border proliferation. Drawing on other studies and my own work, I will also outline various inequalities. First, how language can act as a proxy for the race through testing which is disproportionately more problematic for non‐Europeans. Second, how a lack of access to test centers can discriminate in testing that takes place in the country of origin prior to arrival while also reducing access to test centers in the country of arrival once settled. Third, how tests can affect women, particularly mothers who may lack access to language support and may also have care duties. I will also outline the effects of delays and in relation to language borders. In all of the above, citizenship testing is better situated as a form of border making consistent with the increasing securitization of broader society whether through offshore detention, walls, or increased surveillance.

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