Abstract

This article first aims to reconstruct an Arendtian ‘politics of in/visibility.’ Section one interprets Arendt’s reflections on stateless aliens in inter-war Europe, and the next section provides a conceptual background by situating the politics of visibility within Arendt’s more theoretical-philosophical writings on politics. By juxtaposing her account with current Dutch policies and practices concerning aliens in the last section, this article next aims to investigate the relevance and currency of the Arendtian politics of in/visibility. Arguing for the continuing relevance of Arendt’s account, the article nevertheless shows that technologically advanced regimes of exposing have emerged which Arendt neither has nor could take account of. Moreover, this article argues that these regimes, which reinforce the naturalism of the nation-state system even further, have invited particular groups of aliens – i.e., illegal migrants – to adopt counterstrategies of individual self-obscuration that would have been incomprehensible to Arendt.