Grievable Lives in Practice: A Phenomenological Study of the Asylum System in Samos

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores how Judith Butler’s (2009) theory of grievable lives is produced within the asylum system on the Greek island of Samos. Grounded in a qualitative, phenomenological approach, it draws on perspectives from both international and local humanitarian workers (who claimed asylum in Samos) to examine how everyday practices shape the recognition and valuation of human life.The findings identify three interconnected dynamics: differential treatment, power and control, and dehumanisation. Together, these reveal a system in which hierarchies based on nationality, gender, and perceived vulnerability influence access to resources, rights, and care. These inequalities are reinforced through institutional structures, opaque decision-making, and the normalisation of prolonged waiting and inadequate living conditions.By linking lived experience to theory, the study shows that grievability is not only discursively constructed but also materially enacted through bureaucratic and spatial practices. In doing so, it extends Butler’s framework and contributes to critical migration scholarship by highlighting how asylum systems function as sites of differential recognition,raising broader questions about the uneven valuation of life within contemporary European border regimes.