Drawing on theories of governmentality, Lippert traces the emergence of sanctuary practice to a shift in responsibility for refugees and immigrants from the state to churches and communities. Here sanctuary practices and spaces are shaped by a form of pastoral power that targets needs and operates through sacrifice, and by a sovereign power that is exceptional, territorial, and spectacular. Correspondingly, law plays a complex role in sanctuary, appearing variously as a form of oppression, a game, and a source of majestic authority that overshadows the state. A thorough and original account of contemporary sanctuary practice, this book tackles theoretical and methodological questions in governmentality and socio-legal studies.

Randy K. Lippert is Professor of Criminology at University of Windsor, Canada, specializing in policing, security, and governance. Previous publications include “Condo Conquest” (2019) and “Policing Cities” (2013) (with K. Walby). Kevin Walby is Chancellor's Research Chair and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg, Canada. Previous publications include “National Security, Surveillance, and Terror” (2017) (with R. Lippert) and “Corporate Security in the 21st Century” (2014) (with R. Lippert).

Randy Lippert's profile page

Randy Lippert’s Sanctuary, Sovereignty and Sacrifice is an ambitious work that manages to successfully interrogate an empirical phenomena (sanctuary incidents) via a set of highly sophisticated theoretical concepts. Lippert’s sophisticated theoretical engagement and empirical investigation are intellectually fruitful and politically timely

The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology

The work is highly original, contributing to theory regarding governmentality, as well as to knowledge regarding Canadian sanctuary practices ... Altogether, a fascinating and complex account.

Susan Bibler Coutin, author of The Culture of Protest: Religious Activism and the U.S. Sanctuary Movement