Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2018 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297 |
Resumo: | This article argues that illegalized migrants carry the potential for social change not only through their acts of resistance but also in their everyday practices. This is the case despite illegalized migrants being the most disenfranchised subjects produced by the European border regime. In line with Jacques Rancière (1999) these practices can be understood as ‘politics’. For Rancière, becoming a political subject requires visibility, while other scholars (Papadopoulos & Tsianos, 2007; Rygiel, 2011) stress that this is not necessarily the case. They argue that political subjectivity can also be achieved via invisible means; important in this discussion as invisibility is an essential strategy of illegalized migrants. The aim of this article is to resolve this binary and demonstrate, via empirical examples, that the two concepts of visibility and imperceptibility are often intertwined in the messy realities of everyday life. In the first case study, an intervention at the ver.di trade union conference in 2003, analysis reveals that illegalized migrants transformed society in their fight for union membership, but also that their visible campaigning simultaneously comprised strategies of imperceptibility. The second empirical section, which examines the employment stories of illegalized migrants, demonstrates that the everyday practices of illegal work can be understood as ‘imperceptible politics’. The discussion demonstrates that despite the exclusionary mechanisms of the existing social order, illegalized migrants are often able to find work. Thus, they routinely undermine the very foundations of the order that produces their exclusions. I argue that this disruption can be analyzed as migrants’ ‘imperceptible politics’, which in turn can be recognized as migrants’ transformative power. |
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Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionizationillegal migration; imperceptible politics; migration; mobile commons; political subjectivity; social change; trade union; RancièreThis article argues that illegalized migrants carry the potential for social change not only through their acts of resistance but also in their everyday practices. This is the case despite illegalized migrants being the most disenfranchised subjects produced by the European border regime. In line with Jacques Rancière (1999) these practices can be understood as ‘politics’. For Rancière, becoming a political subject requires visibility, while other scholars (Papadopoulos & Tsianos, 2007; Rygiel, 2011) stress that this is not necessarily the case. They argue that political subjectivity can also be achieved via invisible means; important in this discussion as invisibility is an essential strategy of illegalized migrants. The aim of this article is to resolve this binary and demonstrate, via empirical examples, that the two concepts of visibility and imperceptibility are often intertwined in the messy realities of everyday life. In the first case study, an intervention at the ver.di trade union conference in 2003, analysis reveals that illegalized migrants transformed society in their fight for union membership, but also that their visible campaigning simultaneously comprised strategies of imperceptibility. The second empirical section, which examines the employment stories of illegalized migrants, demonstrates that the everyday practices of illegal work can be understood as ‘imperceptible politics’. The discussion demonstrates that despite the exclusionary mechanisms of the existing social order, illegalized migrants are often able to find work. Thus, they routinely undermine the very foundations of the order that produces their exclusions. I argue that this disruption can be analyzed as migrants’ ‘imperceptible politics’, which in turn can be recognized as migrants’ transformative power.Cogitatio2018-03-29info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1297Social Inclusion; Vol 6, No 1 (2018): The Transformative Forces of Migration: Refugees and the Re-Configuration of Migration Societies; 157-1652183-2803reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297/1297Copyright (c) 2018 Holger Wilckehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessWilcke, Holger2022-12-20T11:00:29Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1297Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:21:58.984523Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
title |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
spellingShingle |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization Wilcke, Holger illegal migration; imperceptible politics; migration; mobile commons; political subjectivity; social change; trade union; Rancière |
title_short |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
title_full |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
title_fullStr |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
title_full_unstemmed |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
title_sort |
Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
author |
Wilcke, Holger |
author_facet |
Wilcke, Holger |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Wilcke, Holger |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
illegal migration; imperceptible politics; migration; mobile commons; political subjectivity; social change; trade union; Rancière |
topic |
illegal migration; imperceptible politics; migration; mobile commons; political subjectivity; social change; trade union; Rancière |
description |
This article argues that illegalized migrants carry the potential for social change not only through their acts of resistance but also in their everyday practices. This is the case despite illegalized migrants being the most disenfranchised subjects produced by the European border regime. In line with Jacques Rancière (1999) these practices can be understood as ‘politics’. For Rancière, becoming a political subject requires visibility, while other scholars (Papadopoulos & Tsianos, 2007; Rygiel, 2011) stress that this is not necessarily the case. They argue that political subjectivity can also be achieved via invisible means; important in this discussion as invisibility is an essential strategy of illegalized migrants. The aim of this article is to resolve this binary and demonstrate, via empirical examples, that the two concepts of visibility and imperceptibility are often intertwined in the messy realities of everyday life. In the first case study, an intervention at the ver.di trade union conference in 2003, analysis reveals that illegalized migrants transformed society in their fight for union membership, but also that their visible campaigning simultaneously comprised strategies of imperceptibility. The second empirical section, which examines the employment stories of illegalized migrants, demonstrates that the everyday practices of illegal work can be understood as ‘imperceptible politics’. The discussion demonstrates that despite the exclusionary mechanisms of the existing social order, illegalized migrants are often able to find work. Thus, they routinely undermine the very foundations of the order that produces their exclusions. I argue that this disruption can be analyzed as migrants’ ‘imperceptible politics’, which in turn can be recognized as migrants’ transformative power. |
publishDate |
2018 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2018-03-29 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297 oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1297 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297 |
identifier_str_mv |
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1297 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297 https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v6i1.1297 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297/1297 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 Holger Wilcke http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 Holger Wilcke http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Social Inclusion; Vol 6, No 1 (2018): The Transformative Forces of Migration: Refugees and the Re-Configuration of Migration Societies; 157-165 2183-2803 reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799130665904504832 |