CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - Chioma Daisy Onyige Revealing the Biopolitical Dynamics of Apocalyptic Migration: Africa's Diaspora Towards Europe
The proposed research aims to examine the intricate interplay of biopolitics in shaping the apocalyptic experiences endured by migrants on their journey from Africa to Europe. Grounded in a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from political theory, sociology, and migration studies, this study seeks to uncover the underlying mechanisms through which biopolitical interventions construct, classify, and contest specific spatialities, temporalities, and affects within the migration process.
Central to this investigation is the utilization of Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, which underscores the governance of populations through techniques and technologies that regulate life itself. By examining how biopolitical mechanisms such as border controls, detention practices, and asylum policies shape migrant experiences, the study aims to illuminate the ways in which states exert control over migrant bodies and populations. Building upon Foucault’s work, the research engages with scholarship by Achille Mbembe and Giorgio Agamben, who have further elucidated the biopolitical dimensions of migration, highlighting the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation, violence, and death in zones of exception created by border regimes.
Furthermore, the study emphasizes the significance of spatiality, temporality, and affect in shaping migrants’ experiences. Spatial dimensions encompass the physical borders, transit routes, and makeshift encampments that migrants navigate, while temporalities refer to the liminality and suspension of normal life experienced during migration. Affective registers encompass the emotions, traumas, and psychosocial impacts of migration, revealing the deeply personal and embodied nature of the migrant experience. By conducting fieldwork in key transit points and migrant hubs along migration routes from North Africa to Southern Europe, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the biopolitical dimensions of migration and its implications for migrant subjectivities and experiences.