Resonance beyond regimes: Migrant’s alternative infrastructuring practices in Athens

Mirjam Wajsberg,Joris Schapendonk

doi:10.1177/00420980211044312

Abstract

In migration studies, there is an increasing interest in understanding how migration processes are shaped by different forms of brokerage and mediation. We relate these debates to the everyday struggles of migrants in the city of Athens. In so doing, we propose a shift from the all-encompassing view on infrastructures, that is, as systematic entities of facilitation/control to the infrastructuring practices of migrants. This implies a focus on how migrants create dynamic social platforms, and how these platforms relate to formal infrastructures and industries. We analyse these infrastructuring practices through a conceptual lens of resonance that is sensitive to the constitutive (how things, people and processes are brought together) as well as travelling capacities of these practices (how the platforms shift to other places). With an ethnographic approach, we create in-depth insights into the ways in which migrants mediate im/mobility in the urban environment of Athens through infrastructuring practices. The paper concludes by reflecting on the promises and limitations of the infrastructuring practices as sites of solidarity. We thereby argue that there are many links to make within the mobile commons debate. At the same time, our findings highlight that the transformative potential of infrastructuring practices does not always go along with a clear claim on solidarity.

Highlights

A wide range of studies, from migrants’ social networks (Massey et al, 1998) to studies on actors of the migration industry (Cranston et al, 2018; Deshingkar, 2019; Gammeltoft-Hansen and Sørensen, 2013), deal with the question of how migrants’ im/ mobilities are shaped and differentiated by various actors
Whereas most of the contributions in this Special Issue focus on migration industry actors, we relate mediation and brokerage to the less institutionalised practices employed in the everyday lives of migrants in Athens
In this respect, ‘migration infrastructures’ has proven to be an attractive concept as it connects the social realm of migrant networks, the organised and often commercialised realm of migration industries and the realm of migration management

Summary

Introduction

A wide range of studies, from migrants’ social networks (Massey et al, 1998) to studies on actors of the migration industry (Cranston et al, 2018; Deshingkar, 2019; Gammeltoft-Hansen and Sørensen, 2013), deal with the question of how migrants’ im/ mobilities are shaped and differentiated by various actors. Whereas most of the contributions in this Special Issue focus on migration industry actors, we relate mediation and brokerage to the less institutionalised practices employed in the everyday lives of migrants in Athens. In this respect, ‘migration infrastructures’ has proven to be an attractive concept as it connects the social realm of migrant networks, the organised and often commercialised realm of migration industries and the realm of migration management. In line with some critical urban scholars (e.g. Berlant, 2016; Cowen, 2017; Cowen et al, 2018), we approach infrastructures as modes of control as well as transgression that emerge from people’s relational practices

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion