Within, beyond, and after citizenship: the interplay between visibility and invisibility among migrants in Patras

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing upon empirical research conducted in Patras in 2015, this paper investigates the multiplicity of visible and invisible practices migrants have employed to challenge, negotiate, or evade the pervasive border regime and (attempt to) claim their freedom of settlement and movement. The paper will make two interrelated contributions. Theoretically, it will critically explore the concepts of ‘acts of citizenship’ and ‘imperceptible politics’ through the lens of visibility to analyse the nuances and differences between them and reinstate their importance in capturing the vitality of migrants’ agency. Empirically, the paper will investigate the interplay of visibility and invisibility both in the development of the European and national border regimes and in the fragmented formation process of a migrant political subjectivity. In capturing and analysing the ever-changing development of migrants’ movements and struggles, as well as their multiple ways of being political through visibility and invisibility within, beyond, and after citizenship, the paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue between two broader bodies of work: Critical Citizenship Studies and Autonomy of Migration.