Leiden University Student Repository

Al-khulaidi, Sahar (2021)

Problematizing the Passport: A Postcolonial Approach to Understanding the Role of the Passport

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

This research paper explored the passport through a postcolonial lens. An existing passport hierarchy motivated the questioning of the performative role that the passport plays in subordinating and marginalizing the Global South. It was found that through the process of “Othering,” the passport has played a role in consolidating colonial legacy. To investigate this, a Critical discourse analysis was conducted on the Egyptian film Assal Eswed (2010) to gain better understanding on the discourse around passports and how the Global South is made to feel inferior through it. The film was mapped into themes which display power relations rooted in colonial history. The findings are useful in understanding several key debates in International Relations such as, immigration, refugee crisis, power relations, and colonial legacy.

Passport

post colonialism

Global South

Othering

Author

Al-khulaidi, Sahar

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Culture and Politics

Supervisors

Smith, Karen

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en