{"title":"Hegemony as promises: rationalizing restrictiveness and the legal consciousness of asylum seekers in Belgium","authors":"LAURA VICTORIA RAKOTOMALALA","doi":"10.1111/jols.70013","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>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.</p>","PeriodicalId":51544,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Law and Society","volume":"52 3","pages":"414-433"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Law and Society","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jols.70013","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
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.
期刊介绍：
Established as the leading British periodical for Socio-Legal Studies The Journal of Law and Society offers an interdisciplinary approach. It is committed to achieving a broad international appeal, attracting contributions and addressing issues from a range of legal cultures, as well as theoretical concerns of cross- cultural interest. It produces an annual special issue, which is also published in book form. It has a widely respected Book Review section and is cited all over the world. Challenging, authoritative and topical, the journal appeals to legal researchers and practitioners as well as sociologists, criminologists and other social scientists.
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