Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization
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 wi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Social Inclusion |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297 |
| _version_ | 1818472476603056128 |
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| author | Holger Wilcke |
| author_facet | Holger Wilcke |
| author_sort | Holger Wilcke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20d0f50a573a447599eb3c510fefb0da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2803 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Inclusion |
| spelling | doaj.art-20d0f50a573a447599eb3c510fefb0da2022-12-22T02:13:18ZengCogitatioSocial Inclusion2183-28032018-03-016115716510.17645/si.v6i1.1297681Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and UnionizationHolger Wilcke0Berlin Institute of Migration and Integration Research, Humboldt University of Berlin, GermanyThis 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.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297illegal migrationimperceptible politicsmigrationmobile commonspolitical subjectivitysocial changetrade unionRancière |
| spellingShingle | Holger Wilcke Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization Social Inclusion illegal migration imperceptible politics migration mobile commons political subjectivity social change trade union Rancière |
| title | 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_short | Imperceptible Politics: Illegalized Migrants and Their Struggles for Work and Unionization |
| title_sort | imperceptible politics illegalized migrants and their struggles for work and unionization |
| topic | illegal migration imperceptible politics migration mobile commons political subjectivity social change trade union Rancière |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1297 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT holgerwilcke imperceptiblepoliticsillegalizedmigrantsandtheirstrugglesforworkandunionization |