Mapping machines: activist cartographies of the border and labor lands of Europe

This dissertation explores how cartographic and geographic methods are being utilized as tools by social movements for new ends. In particular, I focus on social movements based in Spain that are developing cartographies of the conflicting territories of the European Union and its construction. The activist mapping projects engaged in this dissertation are understood as a form of "other" cartography: a form of social movement-based knowledge deploying the traditional research tool of cartography to new ends. Cartography, often labeled an instrument of fixation to facilitate appropriation of territory by established power structures, becomes a counter tool for anti-systemic movements. My work examines how social movements employ spatial and cartographic knowledges in order to analyze and transform existing spaces and prefigure alternative ones. This basic tenet of the thesis splits into two types of argument: conceptual and empirical. Conceptually, I answer why these activist cartographies matter, socially and intellectually, and how they fit into a broader historical moment. The empirical argument follows by examining the procedures and venues used by mapping movements and how activist cartography is developing in Spain and Europe

La migración como (f)actor geopolítico: Una aproximación desde la autonomía de las migraciones

En aquest article suggerim interpretar la migració com a factor geopolític, un factor que no aquesta sempre subjecte a les decisions estatals.  Realitzem una revisió de la literatura sobre la geopolítica de les migracions, sobretot centrat en el control migratori, identificant els seus limitis i potencialitats. Després, presentem l'Autonomia de les Migracions com una manera de complementar o reptar conceptes assumits dins la literatura de la geopolítica de les migracions com la primacia analítica de les actuacions dels estats en matèria migratòria.  Sobre la base del treball de *Yann *Moulier *Boutang, proposem parar esment a la capacitat pròpia dels moviments migratoris per a intervenir en transformacions estructurals de tipus econòmic, polític, cultural i legal. Aquest enfocament en les migracions com a factor geopolític pot guiar futures recerques i enriquir la nostra comprensió de les transformacions a les fronteres i de la geopolítica mateixa.In this article we suggest to interpret migration as a geopolitical factor, a factor which is not always subject to governmental decisions.  We conduct a review of the literature on the geopolitics of migration, focusing on migration control, identifying its limits and possibilities.  We then present the Autonomy of Migration approach as a way to complement or challenge certain assumptions of the geopolitics of migration literature, such as the analytical primacy of state actions in the migratory field.  Using the work of Yann Moulier Boutang, we propose paying attention to the capacity of migratory movement to intervene in the transformation of economic, political, cultural and legal structures.  This focus on migrations as a geopolitical factor can guide future research and enrich our understanding of how borders are transforming and of geopolitics itself. En este artículo sugerimos interpretar la migración como factor geopolítico, un factor que no esta siempre sujeto a las decisiones estatales.  Realizamos una revisión de la literatura sobre la geopolítica de las migraciones, sobre todo centrado en el control migratorio, identificando sus limites y potencialidades. Después, presentamos la Autonomía de las Migraciones como una manera de complementar o retar conceptos asumidos dentro la literatura de la geopolítica de las migraciones como la primacía analítica de las actuaciones de los estados en materia migratoria.  En base al trabajo de Yann Moulier Boutang, proponemos prestar atención a la capacidad propia de los movimientos migratorios para intervenir en transformaciones estructurales de tipo económico, político, cultural y legal. Este enfoque en las migraciones como factor geopolítico puede guiar futuras investigaciones y enriquecer nuestra comprensión de las transformaciones en las fronteras y de la geopolítica misma. 

New Keywords: Migration and Borders

“New Keywords: Migration and Borders” is a collaborative writing project aimed at developing a nexus of terms and concepts that fill-out the contemporary problematic of migration. It moves beyond traditional and critical migration studies by building on cultural studies and post-colonial analyses, and by drawing on a diverse set of longstanding author engagements with migrant movements. The paper is organized in four parts (i) Introduction, (ii) Migration, Knowledge, Politics, (iii) Bordering, and (iv) Migrant Space/Times. The keywords on which we focus are: Migration/Migration Studies; Militant Investigation; Counter-mapping; Border Spectacle; Border Regime; Politics of Protection; Externalization; Migrant Labour; Differential inclusion/exclusion; Migrant struggles; and Subjectivity

CHANGING BORDERS, RETHINKING SOVEREIGNTY: TOWARDS A RIGHT TO MIGRATE

Abstract The intervention of European Union border authorities in countries of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe has shown how the European state “border” has been displaced from its national moorings and externalized across the territories of neighboring states. Our research examines the outsourcing of the southern European Union border, focusing on the case of Spain and its relationship with Morocco and countries of Western Africa. In this paper we describe the development and implementation of this strategy of migration management, signaling implications of border externalization from the point of geopolitics and legality, including a suggestive call to reclaim the legal tradition of the Right to Migrate

Interventions on the concept of externalisation in migration and border studies

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