The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home

This article focuses on the relationship between the definitions of home and the contemporary figure of the migrant. The specific context is the politics of representation that has developed around the so-called Jungle in Calais, the unofficial refugee camp that the French State has regularly attemp...

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Autore principale: Mireille Rosello
Natura: Articolo
Lingua:English
Pubblicazione: NECS 2016-01-01
Serie:NECSUS
Accesso online:https://www.necsus-ejms.org/test/calais-jungle-mediations-home/
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author Mireille Rosello
author_facet Mireille Rosello
author_sort Mireille Rosello
collection DOAJ
description This article focuses on the relationship between the definitions of home and the contemporary figure of the migrant. The specific context is the politics of representation that has developed around the so-called Jungle in Calais, the unofficial refugee camp that the French State has regularly attempted to dismantle for years. In the aftermath of one particularly spectacular operation, this study asks what it means for the media to have reported on the end of the Jungle in October 2016. It explores the origin of the word ‘Jungle’ and its strategic uses by various social actors who either oppose or embrace the label. Depending on whether they can successfully describe the Jungle as a home or insist that it cannot be one, migrants, volunteers, journalists, sociologists, lawyers, and politicians are able to justify the decisions they make. Depending on which concepts or metaphors of home they invoke, social actors can defend radically different agendas such as the destruction of tents and caravans, the distribution of food and clothes, or the building of an unofficial shop. An analysis of the instrumentalisation of the concept of home shows which political or ethical agendas are better served by the deployment of radically different conceptions of the word.
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spelling doaj.art-bcfe9f4e8e2a4e7abd89ea39dba04d512024-08-02T11:34:29ZengNECSNECSUS2213-02172016-01-01528910610.25969/mediarep/3358The Calais Jungle: Mediations of homeMireille RoselloThis article focuses on the relationship between the definitions of home and the contemporary figure of the migrant. The specific context is the politics of representation that has developed around the so-called Jungle in Calais, the unofficial refugee camp that the French State has regularly attempted to dismantle for years. In the aftermath of one particularly spectacular operation, this study asks what it means for the media to have reported on the end of the Jungle in October 2016. It explores the origin of the word ‘Jungle’ and its strategic uses by various social actors who either oppose or embrace the label. Depending on whether they can successfully describe the Jungle as a home or insist that it cannot be one, migrants, volunteers, journalists, sociologists, lawyers, and politicians are able to justify the decisions they make. Depending on which concepts or metaphors of home they invoke, social actors can defend radically different agendas such as the destruction of tents and caravans, the distribution of food and clothes, or the building of an unofficial shop. An analysis of the instrumentalisation of the concept of home shows which political or ethical agendas are better served by the deployment of radically different conceptions of the word.https://www.necsus-ejms.org/test/calais-jungle-mediations-home/
spellingShingle Mireille Rosello
The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
NECSUS
title The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
title_full The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
title_fullStr The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
title_full_unstemmed The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
title_short The Calais Jungle: Mediations of home
title_sort calais jungle mediations of home
url https://www.necsus-ejms.org/test/calais-jungle-mediations-home/
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