This open access monograph provides sociological insight into governmental action on the
administration of asylum in the European context. It offers an in-depth understanding of how
decision-making officials encounter and respond to structural contradictions in the asylum
procedure produced by diverging legal political and administrative objectives.The study
focuses on structural aspects on the one hand such as legal and organisational elements and
aspects of agency on the other hand examining the social practices and processes going on at
the frontside and the backside of the administrative asylum system.Coverage is based on a case
study using ethnographic methods including qualitative interviews participant observation as
well as artefact analysis. This case study is positioned within a broader context and allows
for comparison within and beyond the European system building a bridge to the international
scientific community.In addition the author links the empirical findings to sociological
theory. She explains the identified patterns of social practice in asylum administration along
the theories of social practices social construction and structuration. This helps to
contribute to the often missing theoretical development in this particular field of
research.Overall this book provides a sociological contribution to a key issue in today's
debate on immigration in Europe and beyond. It will appeal to researchers policy makers
administrators and practitioners as well as students and readers interested in immigration and
asylum.
