In Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica, Luke de Noronha weaves together the personal histories of four men who have been deported from the UK to Jamaica. Showing how their migratory journeys and experiences have been shaped by state-based racial discrimination and criminalisation, de Noronha explores what these accounts reveal about racism, migration and citizenship in the UK as well as the broader global (im)mobilities regime. Privileging the voices of de Noronha’s interviewees and guided by a strong activist orientation, the book’s persuasive writing style succeeds in offering a vivid depiction of lives impacted by deportation, writes Natalie Dietrich Jones. Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica. Luke de Noronha. Manchester University Press. 2020

Dietrich Jones, Natalie

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LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	Deporting	Black	Britons:	Portraits	ofDeportation	to	Jamaica	by	Luke	de	NoronhaIn	Deporting	Black	Britons:	Portraits	of	Deportation	to	Jamaica,	Luke	de	Noronha	weaves	together	thepersonal	histories	of	four	men	who	have	been	deported	from	the	UK	to	Jamaica.	Showing	how	their	migratoryjourneys	and	experiences	have	been	shaped	by	state-based	racial	discrimination	and	criminalisation,	de	Noronhaexplores	what	these	accounts	reveal	about	racism,	migration	and	citizenship	in	the	UK	as	well	as	the	broader	global(im)mobilities	regime.	Privileging	the	voices	of	de	Noronha’s	interviewees	and	guided	by	a	strong	activistorientation,	the	book’s	persuasive	writing	style	succeeds	in	offering	a	vivid	depiction	of	lives	impacted	bydeportation,		writes	Natalie	Dietrich	Jones.Deporting	Black	Britons:	Portraits	of	Deportation	to	Jamaica.	Luke	de	Noronha.	Manchester	UniversityPress.	2020.In	Deporting	Black	Britons:	Portraits	of	Deportation	to	Jamaica,	Luke	de	Noronhaweaves	the	(at	times	interlocking)	personal	histories	of	four	men	involuntarily	returnedfrom	the	United	Kingdom.	De	Noronha’s	objective	is	to	emphasise	‘the	connectionsbetween	punitive	criminal	justice	policies	and	aggressive	immigration	restrictions’	inorder	to	‘develop	a	more	expansive	account	of	state	racism’	(4).	Through	theseaccounts,	and	the	accompanying	theoretical	discussion,	he	offers	a	twin	contribution	toRace	and	Border	Studies.	It	is	a	timely	work	in	light	of	the	unfolding	of	the	WindrushScandal,	anti-deportation	protests	and	campaigning,	the	Black	Lives	Matter	movementand	a	2019	report	by	the	United	Nations	Special	Rapporteur	on	contemporary	forms	ofracism,	racial	discrimination,	xenophobia	and	related	intolerance	in	the	UK.	It	adds	to	awell-established	canon,	which	has	seen	recent	reinvigoration	due	to	the	increase	inexpulsive	practices	by	an	example	of	what	Daniel	Kanstroom	refers	to	as	‘thedeportation	nation’.The	book	is	organised	into	nine	chapters.	The	Introduction	accomplishes	severalthings.	It	provides	an	overview	of	one	of	the	author’s	primary	field	sites,	contextualisesthe	study,	introduces	and	qualifies	the	use	of	key	terms	and	briefly	describes	theformat	of	the	text.	It	also	positions	de	Noronha,	a	UK	citizen	and	a	PhD	student	at	the	time	of	the	study,	in	relationto	his	interviewees.	Finally,	it	also	provides	a	preview	to	de	Noronha’s	main	concept	and	argument	regarding	‘multi-status’	Britain.	This	he	describes	as	a	nation	shaped	by	an	institutionally	racist	agenda	that	distinguishes	betweendifferent	categories	of	citizens	and	non-citizens.	De	Noronha	understands	citizenship	as	a	mode	of	being	which	fallsoutside	the	parameters	of	legality.	He	therefore	frames	these	deported	(afro-descended)	men	–	who	all	immigratedto	the	UK	as	minors	and,	with	the	exception	of	one,	were	all	undocumented	prior	to	their	incarceration	–	as	Britons.This	explains	the	book’s	title.The	introductory	chapter	is	followed	by	four	empirical	chapters,	which	each	portray	the	life	histories	of	Jason,Ricardo,	Chris	and	Denico	(two	of	these	names	are	pseudonyms).	To	add	layers	and	complexity	to	these	lifehistories,	the	narratives	of	their	family	members	and	friends	have	also	been	included	in	these	and	later	chapters.The	book	does	not	centre	the	deportation	moment	for	each	of	the	men	discussed;	rather,	it	traces	their	migratoryjourneys,	which	are	characterised	by	exclusion	based	on	experiences	of	state-based	racial	discrimination	andcriminalisation.	De	Noronha	solidly	grounds	his	arguments	regarding	the	extensive	reach	of	the	border	intomigrants’	everyday	lives.	It	is	a	familiar	discourse.	He	draws	on	several	established	scholars	such	as	Nicholas	DeGenova,	Susan	Bibler	Coutin	and	Les	Back	to	make	his	arguments	throughout	the	text.	De	Noronha’s	uniquecontribution	is	providing	academic	analysis	of	‘what	these	stories	[of	deportation]	reveal	about	racism,	migration	andcitizenship’	(165)	in	the	UK.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica by Luke de Noronha Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-01-12Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2021/01/12/book-review-deporting-black-britons-portraits-of-deportation-to-jamaica-by-luke-de-noronha/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/The	portraits	are	followed	by	three	sections,	which	present	theoretical	arguments	concerning	hierarchies	of	non-citizenship	(Chapter	Six);	the	racist	world	order	(Chapter	Seven);	and	deportation	as	foreign	policy	(Chapter	Eight).Together	these	chapters	argue	that	in	Britain,	black	and	brown	peoples	from	formerly	colonised	places	have	daily,sometimes	violent,	encounters	with	the	border.	These	experiences	emphasise	their	liminal	status.	Heavily	policed,their	eventual	incarceration	sets	the	stage	for	their	deportation	and	return	to	a	country	they	no	longer	considerhome.	This	expulsion	practice	is	not	unique	to	Britain,	which	is	part	of	a	‘racist	world	order’	that	continues	to	bedefined	by	(capitalist)	exploitative	tendencies.	With	this	argument	the	research	locales	are	connected	to	otherdeporting	nations	in	the	global	(im)mobilities	regime.In	large	measure	the	text	privileges	the	voices	of	the	men	interviewed.	The	book	closes	with	an	emotive	afterwordfrom	Chris.	There	is	extensive	use	of	interview	quotations	and	incorporation	of	photographs,	some	taken	by	theinterviewees.	This	is	one	of	the	main	strengths	of	the	work,	which	provides	a	voice	and	a	degree	of	agency	to	anotherwise	forgotten	and	neglected	demographic.	The	second	strength	relates	to	its	activist	orientation	and	its	clearpolitics.	De	Noronha	proposes	that	‘anti-racism	becomes	necessarily	the	struggle	against	immigration	controls	andcitizenship,	which	fix	people	in	space	and	in	law,	and	reproduce	the	racist	world	order’	(236).However,	there	are	several	key	points	missing	from	the	text,	the	inclusion	of	which	would	have	generated	a	morenuanced	argument.	The	first	is	the	absence	of	a	gendered	perspective	of	racism	and	deportation.	Given	theemphasis	on	deported	men,	de	Noronha	acknowledges	this	as	a	potential	weakness.	Secondly,	because	he	is	‘notconcerned	with	representing	‘‘a	culture’’’	(34),	he	does	not	delve	into	a	fulsome	discussion	of	the	sociology	of	afro-Caribbean	families.	For	uninitiated	readers,	this	would	have	explained	their	fractured	nature	and	the	role	ofmigration	(and	deportation)	experiences	in	alienation.	It	would	also	have	clarified	how	household	decisions	around,and	expectations	of,	migration	shaped	interviewees’	relationships	with	their	parents	and	extended	family	members.The	omission	of	a	discussion	on	migrant	decision-making,	including	decisions	resulting	in	clandestine	migration,	iseven	more	glaring,	given	the	unidimensional	representation	of	Jamaica.	The	island	is	described	as	a	poor	debt-ridden	country	where	‘almost	everyone	would	‘‘go	foreign’’	if	they	could’	(75).	This	is	a	gross	overgeneralisation	andoversimplifies	the	argument	by	linking	migration	solely	to	escapism	from	poverty.	The	danger	of	this	view	is	that	itfeeds	into	the	very	rhetoric	of	‘invasion’	of	developed	nations	by	the	poor	that	undergirds	racist	crimmigrationpolicies,	which	de	Noronha	criticises	throughout	the	text.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica by Luke de Noronha Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-01-12Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2021/01/12/book-review-deporting-black-britons-portraits-of-deportation-to-jamaica-by-luke-de-noronha/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/In	addition,	the	book	underscores	the	shortcomings	of	the	outsider	gaze.	This	categorisation	is	accompanied	byimplicit	and	explicit	misrepresentations	of	Jamaica	and	its	communities.	For	example,	the	text	refers	to	HarbourView,	a	mixed	working-	and	middle-class	community,	as	a	‘ghetto	area’	(174);	here,	it	is	not	clear	if	the	term	is	usedby	de	Noronha	or	his	interviewee,	Chris,	and	the	description	is	left	unexamined.	Finally,	the	book	does	not	providelengthy	discussion	of	the	methodology,	in	particular	the	challenges	of	interacting	with	and	reporting	narratives	of	anobviously	vulnerable	group	(deported	individuals,	some	of	whom	had	mental	health	challenges).	This	would	havebeen	of	significant	benefit	to	students	engaged	in	research	with	similar	populations.Notwithstanding,	de	Noronha’s	descriptive	and	persuasive	writing	style	succeeds	in	offering	a	vivid	depiction	of	livesimpacted	by	deportation.	Though	grounded	in	the	discipline	of	Anthropology,	the	book	should	be	of	interest	toSociology,	Political	Science	and	Development	Studies	students	and	academics.	However,	the	book	will	also	appealto	non-academics,	which	is	the	author’s	objective.	The	book’s	318	pages	merely	scratch	the	surface	of	deeplycomplicated	lives.	Those	who	wish	to	learn	more	about	the	individuals	with	whom	de	Noronha	interacted	inJamaica,	via	alternative	media,	may	also	consult	this	artistic	work.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	or	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics.	LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica by Luke de Noronha Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-01-12Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2021/01/12/book-review-deporting-black-britons-portraits-of-deportation-to-jamaica-by-luke-de-noronha/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Book review: Deporting black Britons: portraits of deportation to Jamaica by Luke de Noronha

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Book review: Deporting black Britons: portraits of deportation to Jamaica by Luke de Noronha

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