Affective life, "vulnerable" youths, and international volunteering in a residential care programme in Cusco, Peru

This paper critically engages with the implications of the "affect turn" in the geographies of development and volunteering. By way of considering "affective life" at a residential youth care centre in Peru through an ethnographic study, we aim to contribute to current discussions of "(self‐)transformation" taking place through affectivity in the experience of volunteering. Conceptually, our approach to investigating "affective life" and volunteering involves two steps. First, we critically review this body of work's recent focus on the individualistic mode of volunteer self‐transformation in encountering "vulnerable others." We identify the need to think about affect and embodiment also from the perspectives of the "vulnerable" groups whose lives are entangled with the presence of international volunteering. Second, we argue for an affect‐informed approach to socio‐politically shaped vulnerability, with a particular emphasis on lived experiences and affective capacities related to enduring social and material conditions. Against the backdrop of marginalisation of adolescent mothers from rural and indigenous backgrounds, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse, we analyse the experiences of these youths living at a specific residential care centre and interacting with volunteers on a daily basis. In doing so, we employ a series of perspectives from the residents, while taking into account the organisational environment. We also show the complex ways in which resident–volunteer encounters are at play in life‐enhancing affective states, capacities, and relations emerging among the residents. Our findings on the residents' self‐ and shared capacity of transformation highlights the importance of attending to the spatialities of affective life in academic work focused on the contemporary geographies of international volunteering

Más allá del posmodernismo : viaje a través de la paradoja moderna

La reflexión desarrollada en este artículo parte de la premisa que el análisis posmoderno en geografía y en las ciencias sociales ha evidenciado las contradicciones y paradojas de la concepción moderna de las relaciones entre espacio y sociedad, pero frecuentemente no ha sabido encontrar la forma de superarlas eficazmente. El problema se plantea ahora recuperando el pensamiento de Marshall Berman y las sucesivas reflexiones sobre la naturaleza utópica del espacio moderno de Kevin Hetherington, con el objetivo de mostrar como la modernidad y sus expresiones espaciales se fundamentan en la paradoja. Por esta razón, este texto, en lugar de superar la modernidad, propone recuperar su dimensión ambigua y un análisis del poder inscrito en dicha ambivalencia. De esta recuperación, la geografía tiene mucho que ganar, siendo sus metáforas el fruto de procesos interpretativos que por definición incorporan ambigüedad y ambivalencia, pero al mismo tiempo también una capacidad descriptiva/normativa formidable para aprehender de lo moderno muchos aspectos que las metáforas científicas y la razón cartográfica a menudo reducen al silencio.La reflexió desenvolupada en aquest article parteix de la premissa que l'anàlisi posmoderna en geografia i en les ciències socials ha palesat les contradiccions i paradoxes de la concepció moderna de les relacions entre espai i societat, però freqüentment no ha sabut trobar la forma de superar-les d'una manera eficaç. El problema es planteja ara recuperant el pensament de Marshall Berman i les successives reflexions sobre la naturalesa utòpica de l'espai modern de Kevin Hetherington, amb l'objectiu de mostrar com la modernitat i les seves expressions espacials es fonamenten en la paradoxa. Per aquesta raó, aquest text, en comptes de superar la modernitat, proposa recuperar la seva dimensió ambigua i una anàlisi del poder inscrita en l'esmentada ambivalència. D'aquesta recuperació, la geografia hi té molt per guanyar, i les seves metàfores són el fruit de processos interpretatius que per definició incorporen ambigüitat i ambivalència, però alhora també una capacitat descrip- tivonormativa formidable per tal de copsar del modern molts aspectes que les metàfores científiques i la raó cartogràfica sovint redueixen al silenci.La réflexion développée dans cet article se dégage de la prémisse selon laquelle l'analyse postmoderne, en géographie et en sciences sociales, a mis en évidence les contradictions et les paradoxes de la conception moderne des relations entre espace et société, mais souvent elle n'a pas su trouver la façon de les dépasser efficacement. À présent, le problème se pose en récupérant la pensée de Marshall Berman et les successives réflexions sur la nature utopique de l'espace moderne de Kevin Hetherington, dans le but de montrer comment la modernité et ses expressions spatiales se fondent sur le paradoxe. C'est pourquoi ce texte, au lieu de dépasser la modernité, propose de récupérer sa dimension ambiguë et une analyse du pouvoir inscrit dans cette ambivalence. De cette récupération, la géographie a beaucoup à gagner, ses métaphores étant le fruit de processus interprétatifs qui, par définition, incorporent l'ambiguïté et l'ambivalence, mais aussi une capacité descriptive/normative formidable d'appréhender les nombreux aspects du moderne que les métaphores scientifiques et la raison cartographique réduisent souvent au silence.The reflection that is developed throughout this article is based on the premise that postmodern analysis in geography and in the social sciences has provided evidence of the contradictions and paradoxes in the modern conception of relations between space and society, but has frequently been unable to find the manner in which such incongruities can be efficiently overcome. The question is now raised through a recovery of the thoughts of Marshall Berman and through successive reflections on the utopian nature of Kevin Hetherington's modern space, with the aim of illustrating how modernity and its spatial expressions are based on paradox. For this reason, the text proposes that instead of overcoming modernity, its ambiguous dimension ought to be recuperated, and suggests that there be an analysis of the power pertaining to that very ambivalence. From such recuperation, geography has much to gain, its metaphors being the fruit of interpretative processes that, by definition, incorporate ambiguity and ambivalence, but at the same time also having a formidable descriptive/normative capacity to apprehend, from the modern, many aspects that scientific metaphors and cartographic logic often reduce to silence

Makeshift camp geographies and informal migration corridors

Makeshift camps have increasingly become a permanent presence along border areas and in cities around Europe and elsewhere, constituting a ‘hidden geography’ that is crucial to overland mobilities of thousands of migrants each year and essential to understanding contemporary informal migration. While there is rich and burgeoning scholarship on makeshift camps, substantial gaps remain in the understanding of these informal geographies which have not yet been conceptualized in terms of the key roles they play in the production of informal migration corridors nor the unique forms of daily life en route that they support, as this paper intends to do

"That Thin Red Line": Memory and Yugonostalgia among Italian Minority in Istria

This article examines how the documentary Vedo Rosso may be seen as a form of Yugonostalgia on the part of the Italian minority living in Rovinj, Croatia. Based on a textual analysis and video elicitation, this project explores the multiple and somewhat ambivalent ways in which this specific community has reacted to a visual reconstruction of the 1980s under socialism. A combination of interviews conducted by the authors and interviews presented in the documentary enables the reconstruction of a memoryscape influenced by intragenerational factors, as well as by the broader geopolitical changes that have transformed, at several times and in several ways, the Istrian Peninsula and the maritime town of Rovinj in particular. Deeper links between memory and nostalgia were the subject of detailed analysis in what is now vast and rich interdisciplinary literature. This article is an attempt to contribute to the existing debates on Yugonostalgia, in the sense that it shows that Yugonostalgia, as a form of memorialization, represents a complex and articulate way to interpret a mutable and uncertain present on the part of a relatively marginal ethno-linguistic minority in contemporary Croatia

Interventions on European nationalist populism and bordering in time of emergencies

Peer reviewe

‘Keeping on the move without letting pass’: Rethinking biopolitics through mobility"

“This is the sixth time that I am coming back to the border, in Ventimiglia, after being taken by force to the city of Taranto. I am now trying again to cross to France, I really hope that this time I make it, as I have no money and no energies left”. M., a Sudanese national who arrived in Italy in 2018 from Libya, is one of the many migrants who try to cross to France, along the coast, passing through the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Yet, most of those who try are pushed back to Italy by the French police, sometimes being held for hours in the police station at the border, without being allowed to claim asylum. On the Italian side of the border, some migrants are randomly caught by the police and put on one of the coaches and, on a weekly basis, transferred to Taranto, a city located 1200 kilometres southern of Ventimiglia. Migrants are taken to the Hotspot of Taranto and, after being identified, they are usually released few days later; the majority of them goes back to the Italian-French border, by train or by bus, despite they might be exhausted and running out money. Such a routinised police practice of internal forced transfers does not discourage migrants from going back to Ventimiglia and from trying again and again; nor are migrants taken to Taranto with the goal of detaining them for long time. And yet, they are kept on the move, forced to divert their routes and to repeat the same journey multiple times. The forced hyper-mobility of the migrants who try to cross to France from Ventimiglia is not an exceptional case study; rather, the focus on Ventimiglia sheds light on the dramatic migrants’ goose game , that is, on the convoluted geographies that they are forced to undertake due to legal restrictions, police measures, spatial blockages and ad-ministrative violence

Disidencias, disidentes (mesa redonda)

Desde una óptica autobiográfica, cinco personas vinculadas a la geografía académica (Abel Albet, Josepa Bru, Claudio Minca, Joan Nogué y Teresa Vicente) expresan su opinión, su relación y su mirada respecto a la disidencia. Se demuestra que la experiencia de ser disidente (y las consecuencias que ello comporta) puede ser hecha, vivida y valorada desde múltiples aproximaciones y definiciones.Des d'una òptica autobiogràfica, cinc persones vinculades a la geografia acadèmica (Abel Albet, Josepa Bru, Claudio Minca, Joan Nogué i Teresa Vicente) expressen la seva opinió, la seva relació i la seva mirada respecte a la dissidència. A la taula rodona es demostra que l'experiència de ser dissident (i les conseqüències que això comporta) pot ser feta, viscuda i valorada des de múltiples aproximacions i definicions.Sous une optique autobiographique, cinq personnes en relation avec la géographie académique (Abel Albet, Josepa Bru, Claudio Minca, Joan Nogué et Teresa Vicente) expriment leur opinion, leur relation et leur regard à l'égard de la dissidence. Il ressort que l'expérience de la dissidence (et les conséquences que cela implique) peut se faire, se vivre et s'évaluer sous différentes approches et définitions.From an autobiographical point of view, five people linked to academic geography (Abel Albet, Josepa Bru, Claudio Minca, Joan Nogué and Teresa Vicente) express their opinions about, their relation to and their perspectives on the question of dissidence. The article shows that the circumstance of being dissident (and the consequences that this gives rise to) can be undertaken, experienced and assessed from multiple approximations and definitions

Exopolis reloaded: fragmented landscapes and no man's lands in a North-Eastern Italian border region

2siL'articolo analizza la frammentazione e compenetrazione di paesaggi nell'area di confine tra Friuli Venezia Giulia e Slovenia compresa tra Redipuglia, Villesse, Gradisca e il Collio, utilizzando il concetto di 'exopolis' di Soja. Applicando tecniche di osservazione participante, interviste sul campo, analisi visuale e testuale, la ricerca riporta e analizza i diversi paesaggi segnati dalla storia della grande guerra, dalla trasformazione dell'area di confine al termine della guerra fredda, con riutilizzo degli spazi militari, abbandono e costruzione di aree commerciali. Il recente insediamento di richiedenti asilo provenienti dalla rotta balcanica e le pratiche sociali in questi spazi pubblici determinano una sovrapposizione e contaminazione di paesaggi di abbandono, commercio, turismo, campagna, militarizzazione, dove le diverse funzioni sociali dei luoghi non si intersecano, ma producono una frammentazione del paesaggio con polarità e ineguaglianze sociali, arrocamenti difensivi, aree abbandonate e altre candidate all'Unesco come patrimonio dell'umanità.openopenAltin, Roberta; Minca, ClaudioAltin, Roberta; Minca, Claudi