From margin to centre? Practising new forms of European politics and citizenship in the Calais ‘Jungle’

Lecture by Prof. Corinne Squire (University of East London)

23.10.2019
17:00 - 18:30
Gesellschaft für Soziologie an der Universität Graz (GSU)
[015G04001e] Seminarraum SR 15.4E, Universitätsstraße 15 Bauteil G

Zum Vortrag

This paper, based on the experiences of a group of University of East London (UEL) and other colleauges teaching an accredited short university course at the Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp, 2015-2019, examines camp residents’ persistent and creative efforts, alongside external volunteer and statutory sector workers, to develop workable forms of politics and living within and beyond the camp: practices of political reconstitution on the margins. First, the paper examines the use of rights and humanitarian arguments in claiming services and other provisions for the camp. Secondly, it explores resident-led strategies of cooperation and reciprocity: a coalitional ‘solidarity’ politics built between residents and with voluntary associations; a politics of ‘commons’ articulated between residents; and practices of ‘associational’ politics emerging from specific camp institutions that gathered people around them both physically and socially. The paper suggests that these varying politics of the ‘Jungle’ interacted, and each had their own affordances and limits. Finally, the paper considers the significance of these political practices as moments of passing local or perhaps longer and more extensive significance.

 

Zur Vortragenden

Corinne Squire is Professor of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Centre for Narrative Research, University of East London, UK. She is also a research associate at Witwatersrand University, South Africa. Her research interests are in narrative theory and methods, HIV and citizenship, refugee politics and education, and subjectivities in popular culture. Publications include Stories changing lives (ed., OUP, forthcoming), Voices from the 'Jungle' (Africa et al., ed. with Godin, Hansen, Lounasmaa and Zaman, Pluto, 2017), What is narrative research? (with Davis, Esin, Andrews, Harrison, L-C Hyden and M. Hyden, Bloomsbury, 2014), Living with HIV and ART (Palgrave, 2013) and Doing narrative research (ed. with Andrews and Tamboukou, Sage, 2013).