Situated glossaries of (ir)regular migration

Kolar Aparna, Manju Sharma, Arlene Bugabo and Beatrice Catanzaro (2023). In van Liempt, I., Schapendonk, J., & Campos-Delgado, A.: Research Handbook on Irregular Migration. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Abstract

The term “irregular” attached to “migration” or a “migrant” assumes the existence of regular migration and a regular migrant. However, who defines a process, person or activity as regular or irregular, and as migration or not migration, and migrant or not migrant? For us “(ir)regular migrant/migration” are difficult words to understand if they are not connected to lived experiences in a relational way; i.e., seeing oneself in relation to the processes producing some bodies as regular and others as irregular.

In our internal image-making space, the countless images we carry with us can be recalled at any time and return vivid life material to reflections around a phenomenon or terminology that produce what we call situated glossaries of (ir)regular migration. This, we feel, opens other ways of sensing what is really at stake; i.e., our bodies and all of our collective imaginaries and collective practices. Everyone bears the responsibility for participation in reflection – seeing oneself in relation to the processes producing some bodies as regular and others as irregular. In this chapter, we create exercises/tools to produce situated glossaries of ir/regular migration that is an open call for reflection and can also be used in educational settings.

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Image by: Beatrice Catanzaro