Border crossings by immigrants: Legality, illegality, and alegality

Abstract

What happens to the concept of security if legal disorder manifests itself not only as illegal behavior but also as alegal behavior-acts that challenge the very distinction between legality and illegality, as drawn by a political community? Focusing on European immigration policy, this paper examines how the distinction between illegal and alegal acts critically illuminates the relation between collective (in)security and the concept of legal (dis)order. It concludes by arguing that this distinction sheds new light on the systematic relation-and tension-between security, freedom, and justice.