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London School of Economics and Political Science Affective Borders: The Emotional Politics of the German ‘Refugee Crisis’ Billy Holzberg A thesis submitted to the Department of Gender Studies of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. London, August 2019. 1 Declaration: I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 90 711 words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help: I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Priya Raghavan, Jacqui Gibbs, Ilana Eliot, Niharika Pandit, Hannah Wright, Aura Lehtonen and Howard Rechavia Taylor. 2 Abstract: This thesis constitutes an original conceptualisation and analysis of affective borders that brings together feminist, queer and postcolonial theories of affect with critical border and migration studies. It examines what the public reaction to the so called “refugee crisis” in Germany can tell us about the role that affect plays in producing, legitimising and contesting the European border regime. To that end, it focuses on the mobilisation of three different affects in key scenes of the border spectacle that unfolded during the long summer of migration (the time period from early summer 2015 to the beginning of 2016) in Germany: the invocation of empathy in relation to the publication of the photo of Alan Kurdi; the eruption of anger after the sexual abuse cases during New Year’s Eve in Cologne; and the articulation of hope in Angela Merkel’s “Wir schaffen das” speeches. Tracing affect through these scenes, this thesis uncovers dominant structures of feeling that sustain the deadly logics of the European border regime and suggests that affective borders need to be understood as social and historical forces that reinstall racial, national and sexual hierarchies. By further attending to alternative practices of migrant marches, refugee hunger strikes, acts of public mourning and activist interventions aimed at shaming the European Union, the thesis also highlights the potential for new forms of affective solidarity and resistance to emerge. This work should be of unique interest for scholars aiming to understand how the European border regime is produced, legitimised and contested as well as for those interested to understand how affect theory can be harnessed for more intricate social and political analyses. 3 Acknowledgements: This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many. First of all, I want to thank my supervisor Clare Hemmings for her intellectual sharpness and constant support throughout. I always wished for an intellectual mentor and could not have hoped for a better one. Her feedback is unparalleled, her feminist spirit enlivening and her humor and laughter infectious. She pushed me when I felt confident, built me up when I was stumbling, slowed me down when I was running ahead, and has made writing this thesis the enriching and generative experience that it was. I also want to thank Sadie Wearing for being a wonderful advisor, for always taking time and giving feedback when I came to sit on the little sofa in her office. Her feminist pedagogy and sense of humour taught me to approach academic life with passion and a sense of irony. I am incredibly grateful to have had the chance to call the Department of Gender Studies at the London School of Economics my intellectual home for the last four years. Thank you Hazel Johnstone and Kate Steward for making the Department the caring, dynamic and convivial place that it is. There has never been a problem they could not solve, a tip they would not share or joke they would not make. Thank you also to the other faculty members who have supported me and given feedback on earlier drafts of this thesis. Leticia Sabsay for her sharp political insight, Sonia Corrêa for her transnational perspective, Sumi Madhok for being an intellectual interlocutor, Alyosxa Tudor for their early encouragement, Dianne Perrons for eye-opening suggestions, Ania Plomien for generative questions, Marsha Henry for critical insights, Mary Evans for feminist support and Wendy Sigle for improvements to structure and argument. I also want to thank Emma Spruce and Jacob Breslow for convincing me to come to this department in the first place. Thank you for persuading me not to cross the Atlantic for my PhD and for your support and friendship throughout. Thank you also to everyone at LSE’s Sociology Department that since my Masters has provided a second home at the LSE and that I am excited to be returning back to next year as an LSE Fellow. Coming to the Department of Gender Studies, I was lucky to meet some of the most caring friends and intellectual interlocutors. Ilana Eloit’s feminist passion and intellectual dedication has been an inspiration throughout this thesis and I look forward to continue to share our rage, wonder and curiosity at the world around us. 4 Jacqui Gibbs unique academic and emotional intelligence led her to always know what I was struggling with and I am grateful for having been able to call her my friend throughout these four years. Aura Lehtonen’s political integrity and intellectual sharpness have continuously inspired me and were a crucial orientation throughout the writing of this thesis. I was also glad to have Aïko Holvikivi and Jenny Chanfreau go through this journey with me and for having been so generous and supportive throughout. I also want to thank Priya Raghavan, Tomás Ojeda, Melissa Chacón, Hannah Wright, Leonie Blacknell and Niharika Pandit for sharing ideas, drinks and gossip in the pub and all other current and former PhD-students for making our tiny office the enriching, stimulating and supportive space it is: Louisa Acciari, Alaa El- Mahrakawy, Magdalena Mikulak, Amanda Shaw, Nicole Shephard, Annette Behrens, Miha Fugina, Timothy Koths, Julia Hartviksen and Zuzana Dančíková. During my PhD, I further had the chance to spend a term at the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality at Columbia University in New York. I am indebted to Tina Campt for making this unique opportunity possible and I am grateful for her sharp feedback and generative support throughout my time there. I also want to thank Miriam Ticktin whose graduate class I had the pleasure of taking. Her support in and beyond the class has meant a lot to me and her dedication to finding new grammars of the political has crucially shaped the argument of this thesis. I also want to thank the research networks that I had the chance to participate in over the last years. Thank you to Nicola Lacey, David Soskice and Mike Savage for organising the Leverhulme programme at the International Inequalities Institute and for making inequalities a more prominent theme in social research and political debate. Thank you to everyone from NYLON, in particular Chloe Gott and Vicki Dabrowski for organising our weekly sessions as well Fran Tonkiss, Victor Seidler and David Madden for giving feedback on earlier drafts of this thesis. I also want to thank the German National Merit Foundation for funding my studies throughout and Nikita Dhawan and María do Mar Castro Varela for their valuable lessons in postcolonial theory without which this thesis would not have been possible. During my writing I was sustained and nurtured by friends and colleagues. I want to thank the Stabi crew in Berlin — Anouk Madörin, Maria Alexopoulos, Fabio Santos and Tim Chandler — for iced coffee, meals and laughter, the rotten academics for always being there even though I never make it to Amsterdam enough and the anthro-gang in New York for making me feel so welcome there. Thank you also to 5 everyone who has fought the challenges of the London rental market with me over the last years. Sophie Kloos for rehousing mice, Alici Lecchi for remaining friends in unfriendly conditions, Rebekka Hammelsbeck, Brell Wilson and Zaffron Hill for fighting mold with queer anger and feminist debates, Sylvia and Martin Taylor for always providing shelter when I needed some and Emma and Oran Ward for creating a loving home. Thank you also to my close friends Almut Poppinga, Inken Büngener and Jakob Handt whom I see way too little but who are always there with me in spirit. I would not be here without the love and support of my family. Thank you Claudia. Little did you (or I) know that your feminist dedication and insight that the revolution always foundered on the subjective factor would one day resurface in altered form in my doctoral thesis. Thank you Oskar for your dedication and for teaching me to call out the Emperor for being naked. Thank you Laura for teaching me about care and hospitality, to Nick for giving me hope and political drive and to Hannelore for your love, stories and resilience. Last but not least, I want to thank my intellectual kin. Thank you Kristina Kolbe for endless hours in the library, for sharing anxiety and excitement and for always being there since we embarked on this adventure together four years ago.

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