School of Social and Political Science

The Toxic Effects of Border Violence

23 April 2026
12:00 - 13:00

Venue

Edinburgh Futures Institute Room 3.43 & Online

Media

Image

Image of the author and a border fence

Description

Venue & Registration: This is a hybrid event. When registering please select the ticket type 'in-person' or 'online'.

In-Person

  • Room 3.43, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh

Online

  • A link to MS Teams will be sent to you by Evenbrite prior to the event

 

The Toxic Effects of Border Violence: The recent deaths of US citizens at the hands of that country’s ICE agents signal disturbing patterns of violence and misconduct that are spilling over in ways that have been enabled by Trumpist politics. But such patterns are not new. They are the product of an accumulation of harsh border policies and laws over several decades, across the globe. They also reveal the blurring of policing and militarized practices as part of contemporary border politics. Drawing on research in her forthcoming book, Claire Loughnan will explore the impact of harmful migration and border settings, upon those working in immigration detention sites. This book traces the ethically corrosive effects of punitive responses to 'irregular' refugee movement on the institutions of government, and on the agencies, organisations and the individuals implementing these policies.

Claire Loughnan is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She has published widely on the effects of Australia’s harsh border control policies. Her research focuses on the modes, practices and experiences of confinement in places of ‘care’ and control, ranging from detention and prisons, to aged care, for example. Claire is an advisory committee member and book review editor for the Carceral Geography Working Group of the Royal Geographic Society, a co-convenor of the University of Melbourne branch of Academics for Refugees, and a member of the Australia OPCAT Network.

 

This hybrid talk is co-hosted by Edinburgh University’s Detention Matters Project (Ċetta Mainwaring, Andonea Dickson and Thom Tyerman), and the Citizenship and Migration Research Network (CMRN).

Price

Free

Ticketing

Eventbrite

Location