Borders in Globalization Review

Letter of Introduction

Michael J Carpenter — 2022-12-20

A short overview of the new issue by the managing editor.

Switching Cars with the Militsiya and Other Ways the Finnish–Russian Borderland is ‘Lived’ by People in Their Everyday Lives

Virpi Kaisto — 2022-12-20

Borderlands differ from more central areas of states as they are affected by different border effects, such as cross-border flows and the intermingling of societies and cultures. Yet, the ways people experience and practice borderlands by attaching meanings to the material and social space have received relatively little attention. The present study focuses on the Finnish–Russian borderland as ‘lived’ by people in their everyday lives. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Finnish border cities of Imatra and Lappeenranta and the Russian border cities of Svetogorsk and Vyborg in 2017 and 2018. The main finding is that the participants’ cross-border practices are intertwined with personal and socially shared meanings that they associate with the borderland and places within it. These meanings also play an important role in the ways the participants form relationships with the borderland. The paper argues that research on borderlands needs to pay more attention to the ever-evolving relationship between people and space for deepening the understanding of the specificity of borderlands as living environments.

Introduction: Resisting Anti-Migrant Politics: Challenging Borders, Boundaries, and Belongings in Europe and Africa

Elise Pape — 2022-12-20

This special issue argues that the novelty of current migration realities is not so much due to the scale or forms of migration practices as it is to as the rise of anti-migrant politics, which has led to the institution and differentiation of novel border regimes. Over the years, practices of resistance have developed against these regimes and these politics in different places and on various scales. This special issue highlights the emergent interplay of anti-migrant politics and everyday practices of resisting and subverting them. In their combination, the four articles in this issue make two important contributions: they address the increasing need to unveil unexpected forms of challenging dominant regimes of borders, boundaries, and belongings, and they present a specific case-study-based methodological perspective for capturing counterintuitive and unexpected forms of resisting anti-migrant politics. This special issue stresses the importance of studying resistant practices in different local, regional, national, and continental settings in a comparative and longitudinal manner. Additionally, it emphasizes the consideration of the role of anti-migrant politics and practices as they relate to resistant practices in countries of departure, as in geographic contexts such as the African continent, even if – and especially when – attempts of migration fail due to enhanced border control.

Asylum Seekers in Small Villages: Spatial Proximity and Integration in Italian and French Villages

Stefania Adriana Bevilacqua — 2022-12-20

What happens when asylum seekers from African or Middle Eastern countries are resettled by authorities in small European villages? When they arrive, are they welcomed, or on the contrary, rejected by villagers? Generally speaking, overseas migrants usually wish to be resettled in large European cities. As for European villagers, they tend to form communities closed on themselves, so one might expect a rather cold reception. However, fieldwork in Italian and French villages where asylum-seeking migrants were resettled shows that this is not necessarily the case. Having observed resettlement experiences in the Italian region of Molise and the French region of Alsace, we discovered that, wherever migrants are hosted within the confines of a village, villagers get frequent opportunities to meet them, learn to communicate with them, and spontaneously offer help, especially to children, women, and whole families. The lack of a common language does not prevent day-to-day iwnteractions or development of interpersonal relations. Children go to school and are keen to learn the host society’s language; adult migrants receiving help want to reciprocate by working for free, thus allowing them to quickly learn European ways and skills. If most asylum seekers eventually leave for larger cities, the months spent in a village prove to be a useful step preparing them for further resettlement.

Constructing Local Belonging through Art and Activism in Context of Anti-Migration Politics, Stigmatisation and Gentrification: What Migration Studies can Learn from Belleville and Maddalena

Monika Salzbrunn — 2022-12-20

Despite a decade of self-criticism, research perspectives on migration studies remain too often centred on national belonging (Glick Schiller & Çağlar 2011). Based on two empirical examples, self-organised fashion and music shows in Paris and Genoa, this article shows how “event lenses” can constructively replace “ethnic lenses” in the analysis of artivistic practices that aim at changing political situations and living conditions. Wearing “event lenses” also helps us to question supposed homogeneities and to investigate common civic or political practices and interests by emphasizing multiple belonging processes in various social situations (Yuval-Davis et al. 2006, 7). I show how the research perspective of migration studies can be guided by the complexity of migrants’ multiple belongings and by situational analysis. The article presents results from my ERC project “ARTIVISM. Art and activism. Creativity and Performance as Subversive Forms of Political Expression in Super-Diverse Cities”, guided by an event-centred approach and multi-sensory audio-visual ethnography. The Parisian district of Belleville and the Maddalena district of Genoa suffer both from negative stigmatisations related to informal economical practices. I show how the super-diverse populations in these marginalised but gentrifying spaces creatively reverse xenophobic stigmata, by valorising their biographies and multiple belongings through fashion shows.

Seeking Better Life Chances by Crossing Borders: The Existential Paradox and Strategic Use of Italian Citizenship by Migrant Women

Rosa Gatti — 2022-12-20

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Naples (Italy) in the period 2014 to 2020, this article focuses on the rearticulation of the migration–citizenship nexus through a gender perspective. The article questions how migrant women exercise their agency despite the structural constraints that prevent their full inclusion and how they are able to cross and transgress the boundaries of citizenship and national belonging in search of better life opportunities. The data analyzed show the existential paradox linked to the migration–citizenship nexus that affects the lives of migrant women in Italy and their use of citizenship as a strategy to react to a blocked destiny, to follow one’s aspirations, and to rebalance gender relations. The article refines an integrated approach that considers the relationship between agency, aspiration, and capability as a broader theoretical framework within which to jointly study the dynamics of gender, migration, and citizenship as closely related, beyond the boundaries of fixed and opposite categories.

A Family Mobilization for Migration to Europe from Casamance, Senegal

Abdoulaye Ngom — 2022-12-20

The ratio between basic salaries in Western Europe and in sub-Saharan Africa is at least of a factor ten. Many young Africans therefore dream of emigrating to Europe. However, the air route remains a privilege reserved to members of elite families: to take a plane one needs a visa for most European countries. Without a visa, the only two possibilities are the sea route via coastal navigation along the African coast and the land route through the Sahara. These are the very dangerous and uncertain routes that tens of thousands of migrants nevertheless take each year. This article examines the case of a family of small-scale subsistence farmers in Casamance, the Southern region of Senegal. It shows how this family of 42 persons decided to send one of its members to try to enter France illegally. How they chose the migrant, how they collected the necessary funds, and what happened during the two attempts. This detailed case study gives an idea of the steps taken each year by tens of thousands of other families in Africa who try sending one of their sons across European borders.

Online Networks of Hate: Cultural Borders in Aterritorial Spaces

Edwin Hodge — 2022-12-20

IN BRIEF

Online communities escape territorial boundaries yet build virtual borders of their own
Extremist cultures can thrive in online spaces, evading national legal jurisdictions yet simultaneously operating locally and globally
Public policy requires focused multilateral and multilevel cross-border governance coordination in law enforcement in conjunction with robust transparency and accountability mechanisms

Borders and Sustainability in the Anthropocene

Edwin Hodge — 2022-12-20

IN BRIEF

Climate change is a global issue that requires global cooperation.
Despite this, contemporary international approaches to the climate crisis do the reverse by attempting to carve solutions into projects undertaken by nations within territorial boundaries.
Public policy needs to work through existing international bodies and empower them to address the global crisis

SITUATIONAL REALISM

Ian Howard — 2022-12-20

A multimedia portfolio.

Rescue Mission: Poems from Mute Map for the Drowned

Arian Leka — 2022-12-20

Three poems from the 2019 collection Mute Map for the Drowned.

Continuity and Disruption of Borders (a Complete Art Performance)

Paulo Nazareth — 2022-12-20

This three-part collection presents the physicality of borders as conceived by Paulo Nazareth (born Brazil, 1977). First, a 2006 series of pamphlets depict migration in ways that may not be realistic or factually realizable, but the point is the intention. In a second step, a photo series capture moments of the artist’s journey on the road of the Americas, traveling through 15 countries on foot and by bus from his native Brazil to the United States. Finally, the poignant 2022 testimony of a cleaning lady working for his gallerist Mendes Wood DM is presented here in the original Spanish, as Florencia Cruz Ramos recounts her journey as an immigrant and the impact of Nazareth’s work on her life.

Daha: “Chasing More Hope, Questing More Humanity”

Medine Derya Canpolat — 2022-12-20

The 2018 Turkish film Daha, inspired by Hakan Günday's novel and directed by Onur Saylak, deals with the experiences of immigrants during border crossings and the migrant smuggling networks through the father and son relationship. It is the second film directed by Saylak, one of the most well-known actors in Turkey. Saylak explains that he directed this film with the motivation that cinema should teach people and the aim that makes the audience consider the topic of the film. Daha takes place in Kandalı, a fictional town on the Aegean coast of Turkey where migrant smuggling is intense. It indicates the journey of the migrant smuggled by sea, and presents the migrant smuggling networks and the actors who have different roles in this network: the smuggler, the leader of the safe house, and the boat owners. Ahad, the smuggler, and his 14 years-old son Gaza, the leader of the safe house, are the starring of the film. The plot of the film is presented from Gaza's perspective and narration. The text "the first tool used by a human is another person" reflected on the screen at the beginning of the film draws attention to migrant smuggling.

Ballon: Fly to Freedom

Muhammet Mustafa İyi — 2022-12-20

Film review of the 2018 German film, Ballon (Balloon).

Comparing Russia and China through their Borderlands: A Review of On the Edge, by Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey

Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly — 2022-12-20

A book review of the 2021 Harvard U Press book On the Edge: Life along the Russia–China Border, by Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey.