Humanities & Social Sciences

Affective bordering

The emotional politics of migration, race, and deservingness

by Billy Holzberg

Description

Affective Bordering is an incisive exploration of the emotional politics of migration and borders. Billy Holzberg dives into the intricate interplay between emotions and migration governance, revealing how emotions work to reinforce racial, sexual, and national hierarchies. Examining pivotal events in Germany during the aftermath of the misnamed 'refugee crisis' in Germany, the book traces the construction of different emotions during key events of this period. Challenging the assumption that positive emotions like hope and empathy necessarily work as a counter to negative emotions like anger or fear, Affective Bordering reveals the racial grammars of deservingness that shape border governance today. Bringing together queer feminist theories of affect with postcolonial border and migration studies, the book offers a thought-provoking perspective on the reproduction and contestation of borders in today's world.

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Rights Information

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo [DRC], Congo, Republic of the, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hongkong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, China, Macedonia [FYROM], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Cyprus, Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Dominican Republic, Myanmar, Monaco

Reviews

Affective Bordering is an incisive exploration of the emotional politics of migration and borders. It explores how emotions shape migration and border policies, perpetuating racial, sexual, and national hierarchies. Billy Holzberg analyses key events in the wake of the misnamed 'refugee crisis' in Germany such as Angela Merkel's hopeful 'Wir schaffen das' speeches, the empathetic response to Alan Kurdi's photo, the anger and resentment after New Year's in Cologne, and the current climate of fear and border militarisation. Additionally, the book examines alternative affective practices employed by migrants and migrant solidarity actors, including marches of hope, hunger strikes, public mourning, and activist interventions aimed at shaming the European border regime. By uncovering the racial grammars of deservingness underlying this form of affective border governance, the book challenges the notion that appeals to positive affective forces like empathy and hope necessarily work as a counter to negative emotions such as anger, resentment, and fear. Rather than centring on the affective life of national citizens, the book advocates for a paradigm shift towards the affective practices enacted in the cracks of the European border regime, where those most impacted by oppressive borders enact forms of collective agency and affective resistance. Combining queer feminist theories of affect with postcolonial border and migration politics, Affective Bordering offers a thought-provoking perspective on the reproduction and contestation of borders in today's world.

Author Biography

Billy Holzberg is Assistant Professor of Social Justice at King's College London

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date July 2024
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526172303 / 1526172305
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages208
  • ReadershipCollege/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions234 X 156 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5870
  • SeriesRethinking Borders
  • Reference Code15494

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