Restless justice: Asylum, homelessness and volunteering

by Mark Rainey

Overview

Amid the global migration crisis, the UK has created an increasingly hostile policy environment for asylum seekers that has pushed many into unnecessary hardship and homelessness. Based on several years of ethnographic research in emergency night shelters and on the streets of Manchester, UK, Restless justice draws on the stories and experiences of refused asylum seekers and refugees driven into destitution by an antagonistic immigration system. The book explores how legal and temporal uncertainty shapes the daily lives of those who have had their asylum claims refused, and attends to the experiences of volunteers and activists working on the frontline of the crisis. While the work is rich in detail, it also extends outwards and offers new insights into our understanding of borders and the need to rethink the grand notions of justice and hospitality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526145543
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	01/28/2026
Series:	New Ethnographies
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark Justin Rainey is a Research Associate in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies at the University of Galway.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Time on the street
2 Ethnography in a hostile environment
3 The Boaz Trust
4 Volunteering in the night shelters
5 Time in the shelter
Conclusion

Bibliography
Index