Hegemony as promises

Rationalizing restrictiveness and the legal consciousness of asylum seekers in Belgium

Bibliographic Data

ID6436480
AuthorsLaura Victoria Rakotomalala (0009-0006-4888-1961, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences Free University of Brussels Brussels Belgium, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume52
Issue3
Pages414-433
Publication date2025-08-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Law and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-323X • E-ISSN: 1467-6478
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jols.70013
OpenAlexW4412902937
LanguageEN
Citations received1

Asylum seekers arriving in Belgium are confronted with increasing legal restrictions and criminalizing discourse. As a result, many individuals must rethink their migration projects. How do asylum seekers rationalize intrusive regulations and maintain faith in the legitimacy of the law despite experiencing setbacks? Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with 17 asylum seekers in Belgium and participant observation in a reception centre, this article demonstrates how, despite negative experiences with the law, asylum seekers continue to associate legality with promises of protection, fair treatment, and recognition. Even when the law falls short of these ideals, they employ cognitive frameworks to uphold the legitimacy of the legal system. By shedding light on the cognitive strategies that asylum seekers use to reconcile negative experiences with their normative expectations regarding legality, the article demonstrates how legal hegemony is reinforced by the perspective of the group that it disadvantages the most

Consciousness · Criminology · Hegemony · Legal consciousness · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Restrictiveness · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Philosophy · Psychology

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