Book contents
- States of Ignorance
- States of Ignorance
- Copyright page
- Contents
- About the Editors and Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 States, Knowledge and Ignorance
- 2 The Post-war European State and (Irregular) Migration
- 3 The Invention of Illegal Immigration
- 4 (Im)perfect Control
- 5 From Ignorance to Illegalisation
- 6 Denial, Elucidation or Resignation? British and German State Responses to Unauthorised Migrants
- 7 To See or Not to See
- 8 European Integration and the Leap into the Unknown
- 9 Control Infrastructures and Ignorance
- Index
- References
4 - (Im)perfect Control
The History of the German Foreigners’ Registry*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 November 2023
Book contents
- States of Ignorance
- States of Ignorance
- Copyright page
- Contents
- About the Editors and Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 States, Knowledge and Ignorance
- 2 The Post-war European State and (Irregular) Migration
- 3 The Invention of Illegal Immigration
- 4 (Im)perfect Control
- 5 From Ignorance to Illegalisation
- 6 Denial, Elucidation or Resignation? British and German State Responses to Unauthorised Migrants
- 7 To See or Not to See
- 8 European Integration and the Leap into the Unknown
- 9 Control Infrastructures and Ignorance
- Index
- References
Summary
The German state is often presented as an archetypal example of a bureaucratised system of migration surveillance and control. The Central Foreigners Register, introduced in West Germany in 1953 and digitised in 1967, is a central pillar of this infrastructure, and one of the most comprehensive tools of migration control in any liberal democratic state. Through analysis of federal and state records, this chapter reconstructs the challenges of coordination and resources that impeded the effective operation of the register in the post-war years. Nevertheless, despite its operational deficiencies, it has played an important symbolic role in bolstering the self-image of Germany as a modern state with a high capacity to control its population.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- States of IgnoranceGoverning Irregular Migrants in Western Europe, pp. 117 - 139Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
References
References
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List of Laws and Regulations Cited
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