‘Anthea Vogl’s exceptional study thoroughly changed my thinking about the processing of refugee protection claims. Contrary to intuition, the discretionary space of Refugee Status Determination is not empty, leaving free reins to the subjective preference of the decision-taker. Rather, it is governed by a thick narrative norm, laying out a stock plot that claimants as much as officials are to follow, and privileging a hearing process that is actively challenging claimants and their narrative production. This finding is at the core of Vogl’s work. Writing in a light and accessible style, she placed her astute observations of actual hearings into the wider context of narrative politics. As it were, the narrative form that Canada and Australia impose on asylum applicants reflects central features of an emancipatory form of novel-writing associated to European enlightenment. What we learn from this eminently practical book is that we urgently need to track the narratives that are determinative of how the law is constituted and enforced.’ Gregor Noll, Professor of International Law, University of Gothenburg