Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses social and individual dimensions of the identity of disappeared undocumented migrants. The search and identification procedures relying on individual identity could benefit from more social consideration of identities fluid in time, place and purpose.

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyses the various identity strategies of undocumented migrants on the route from Western Africa to Spain. My preliminary empirical data suggests that persons can use different identities in different situations if it helps in getting or staying in the transit or destination countries, and in many instances, identity is not considered bound in a simple way to a specific individual. For example, it is not uncommon to take the identity of a deceased relative or purchase fake identification documents if they allow you a possibility to migrate. With this in mind, if an undocumented migrant disappears on the route, the relatives base their search and identification procedures in different considerations of a person than the authorities. The relatives seem to operate with more socially embedded understanding of identifiers, while the authorities rely more on individual identifiers.

Individual identity has not always been prerequisite to the bureaucratic activities, but has been stimulated by the movement of people and modern concepts of individuality (Caplan & Torpey 2001). Based on my preliminary fieldwork data, I argue that the search and identification procedures used by the authorities, currently relying on the protocols based on individual identity, could benefit from more social consideration of identities fluid in time, place and purpose. The analysis is based on academic discussions of persons in relation to cultural representations, categories and practices, and on the notions of various and changing subjectivities and identities (e.g. Busby 1999, Mosko 2010, Retsikas 2010).