The determination of dates of birth for people with unknown ages who are claiming asylum in the U.K can have a dramatic affect on their treatment and experience. At the same time, I hypothesis, that the attribution of a date of birth is part of a process of incorporating a person into the state, as such it plays an important role in the establishment and functioning of modern statehood and citizenship.

The purpose of this research will be to understand the practice of attribution of dates of birth and thus to gain an original insight into the nature of statehood and the relationship between the state and its citizens, both subjects of intense concern in contemporary critical social and political theory.