Solidarity as an Industry: The Privatisation of Public Responsibilities

Solidarity is a key principle in asylum policy. However, it has increasingly become commodified through the privatisation of responsibilities, with labour outsourced to private consultancy firms. Consultancies aim to help states streamline procedures and “maximise productivity”, fostering a corporate-driven approach to asylum. This dynamic raises critical questions about accountability, particularly in cases of human rights violations, as states may deflect responsibility to corporations, while corporations claim to merely execute policies, not shape them. This project, part of ArtCollab, explores current and future challenges for the legal system concerning asylum and ways in which they can be artistically represented and visualised.