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- Convenors:
-
Tess Altman
(University of Southampton)
Rachel Humphris (Queen Mary, University of London)
Send message to Convenors
- Discussants:
-
Heidi Armbruster
(University of Southampton)
Mette Louise Berg (University College London)
- Stream:
- Advocacy and Activism
- Sessions:
- Thursday 17 September, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Civil society movements by and for migrants are often critical of hostile border regimes. Questions have been raised about their ambivalent position in relation to such regimes. This panel opens up discussion about the moral and political positionings of civil society actors in Europe and beyond.
Long Abstract:
Refusing the medal bestowed by the Mayor of Paris in August 2019, Pia Klemp, a German captain of migrant search-and-rescue missions in the Mediterranean, stated "I'm not a humanitarian. I am not there to 'aid'. We do not need authorities deciding who is a 'hero' and who is 'illegal'. What we need are freedom and rights." Concurrently, Klemp is being criminalised by the Italian government for 'aiding illegal immigration' and could face up to 20 years in prison. Her case brings into sharp focus political contestations in the heterogeneous civil society space supporting migrants in Europe that has proliferated since the 2015 long summer of migration (Vandevoordt and Verschraegen 2019). This panel invites an interdisciplinary conversation on the moral and political positionings of civil society actors supporting migrants in Europe and beyond. Though many civil society actors are critical of hostile border regimes, questions have been raised about their ambivalent position in relation to such regimes. Papers may address (but are not limited to):
• Expressions of political agency by civil society actors
• Migrant perspectives on civil society actors
• Intersections of gender, class or religious differences in relationships between/among civil society actors and/or migrants
• Criminalisation or valorisation of humanitarian efforts
• Distinctions between forms of helping (e.g. humanitarianism, aid, solidarity, welcome, hospitality)
• Collaborations and/or tensions between civil society actors
• Relations between civil society actors and different levels/scales of government (e.g. local, urban, state, national, inter/supranational)
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 17 September, 2020, -Marisol Reyes (University of Birmingham)
Paper short abstract:
This paper compares the types of volunteering reported in some refugee camps in Europe, with the volunteering developed by the Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) in the UK. Humanitarian capital provided by CSS members creates new sources of agency and social activism in British civil society.
Paper long abstract:
Existing research on the support delivered in spontaneously formed refugee camps across Europe has been characterised as humanitarian because their distinctive characteristics. Primarily, the groups of volunteers operate independently from governmental institutions. Second, their work is mainly financed by donations from the public. Third, the internal dynamics of the volunteers are shaped by informality, creativeness, conviviality, and emotional gratification. Finally, volunteers' involvement in refugee support offers the potential for developing political activism. With the aim of expanding the analysis of grassroots' humanitarianism in the UK, this paper compares the types of volunteering reported in some refugee camps in Europe with the volunteering developed by the Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) in the UK. It is argued that although the CSS was created and implemented by the British Government, its volunteering replicates some of the humanitarian aspects observed in the refugee camps. The study analyses in-depth interviews conducted with fourteen CS groups located across the UK with the experiences of volunteers in The Jungle, Calais, France; Maximiliaan Refugee Camp in Brussels, Belgium; Milan's Hub, Italy; and Refugee Centre Athens, Greece.
Ioanna Manoussaki-Adamopoulou (UCL)
Paper short abstract:
As documented by Rozakou (2018) in her ethnography on volunteering with refugees in Athens, mentalities of charity and horizontal solidarity run deep in Greek society- affecting how politics of giving are imagined and performed. These are also reflected in current refugee rights struggles.
Paper long abstract:
Before 2015, the humanitarian sector was fairly under-developed in Greece. When people started arriving en masse there was a huge civil society response that filled this infrastructural gap. The first refugee and migrant housing squat in Athens, that Pia Klemp visited last August, opened a few months after the first hotspot camp in Lesvos. Since then, there has been a parallel growth of the humanitarian sector and the migrant solidarity network, that was soon enhanced by groups and individuals from Europe. Local solidarity, originally organised to support free movement, is politicised and advocates for open borders. As it was gradually criminalised, a lot of foreign solidarity groups registered as NGOs to continue their projects, creating a third pillar; a network of grassroots NGOs operating on solidarity principles. At the same time, a many unemployed left-wing social scientists found work in the NGO sector but still relate critically to the humanitarian ethos. The current paper explores the dynamics of heterogenous and intersecting politics of care and rights by and for migrants in Athens, through three moments of shared struggle: a protest of evicted migrants in Syntagma square; the Refugee Movement for Rights and Justice protests for housing and the NGO workers' trade union assembly against refugee evictions from UNHCR-funded flats. These collective processes showcase both the limits of the political of civil society actors, as well as the potential to create a space of temporary equality in action, as citizens and non-citizens shape common strategies against legislations supporting the border regime.
Rachel Humphris (Queen Mary, University of London) Kristin Yarris (University of Oregon)
Paper short abstract:
Comparing volunteer mobilizations in USA and UK we argue that welcoming acts are premised on a rational state. Volunteers are unaware of past injustices in immigration systems. Welcoming acts may (by not acknowledging these historical realities) inadvertently perpetuate hierarchies of deservingness.
Paper long abstract:
As state policies towards migrants and refugees become increasingly restrictive and the boundaries of membership shrink, how are local communities responding to foster spaces of welcome? In this paper, we compare local mobilizations of volunteers in civic organizations in the USA (Eugene) and the UK (Sheffield). We argue that unpacking volunteer motivations to help migrants and refugees in the current era in these two sites reveals two central tensions. First, welcoming acts are premised upon a functioning, inclusive, rational state. Volunteers are often unaware of past injustices or inequities in the immigration / asylum system or the ways immigration policies have perpetuated hierarchies of deservingness. Rather they express incredulity and anger at the actions of the current administration, which overshadows how previous policies have been racially-exclusive and imposed state violence on migrant populations. Second, welcoming acts may, (by not acknowledging these historical realities) inadvertently perpetuate these inequalities and hierarchies of deservingness between different groups of migrants. We analyze these tensions while still recognizing these local mobilizations as acts of solidarity towards migrant populations that represent an alternative politics of welcome. Therefore we do not dismiss the political potential of these movements. Rather we trace the affective responses of volunteers and their desire for a 'fairer state'. Through recognizing the negotiations and dilemmas of these civil society actors we hope to explore the possibilities to expand the boundaries of political membership.
Dora Rebelo (Iscte-IUL)
Paper short abstract:
As a response to the alleged "refugee crisis", several initiatives of informal solidarity and activism were combined, trying to overcome two challenges: 1) assure basic support to mobile asylum seekers in host communities and 2) resisting the repression posed by local, national and European policies
Paper long abstract:
The relationships established between activists and mobile asylum seekers in host communities gave rise to new strategies of collaboration, agency and knowledge sharing across borders. Asylum seekers on the move helped to create a new brand of mobile activists who help them establish informal support networks across borders, as an alternative to the ineffective national-based social protection institutions. Civil society activists have been using their freedom of movement and their language skills to provide assistance to asylum seekers on the move. Mobile activism has been crucial in supporting asylum seekers to access legal advice across borders, to access educational infrastructures, food, healthcare and even informal livelihoods. Be it through formal associations created to that effect or through solidarity platforms connected by social media, mobile actors are regarded by their help recipients as a vital source of encouragement to pursue their life choices while being informed of the possibilities and limitations across European countries. The motivations of mobile activists vary, depending on the ethical positioning they assume, and the moral negotiations made in the spaces and time during which they interact. For some people, supporting others serves a purpose of fulfillment or a way to meet personal goals (to gain experience, social mobility, influence, knowledge, etc). For others, it serves a clear political purpose, such as opposing the policies of their own State, as well as the national and European populist trends. There are many intersubjectivities between mobile actors, and the nuances can only be perceived as these relationships develop.