A compendium of keywords in refugee and migration studies is a collective work
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| Author | Ranabir Samaddar |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13146 |
394
|
International Migration. 2023;61:394–398.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 20 Mar ch 2023
|
Accepted: 22 March 2 023
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13146
COMMENTARY
A compendium of keywords in refugee and
migration studies is a collective work
Ranabir Samaddar
Calcutt a Research Group, Kol kata, West Bengal , India
Correspondence
Ranabir Sam addar, Distinguishe d Chair in Migratio n and Forced Migratio n Studies, Calcut ta Reesrach Gr oup, Kolkata, India
Email: ranabir@mcrg.ac.in
In a great number of cases, the history of keywords and words in motion in refugee and migration studies shows
the co lonial and postcolonial imprint on them. Studying the import of these words mean s studying how thes e
words were introduce d, their use shifted, acqui red manifold meanings, and in t he process expanded the conce pts
that lay behind them. Thus, it is necessary to not only review the ir histories but also the multiple deployments of
terms and avenues f or co- option.
Still, t he question remains: How do s ome words initially app earing minor to our general un derstanding be-
come key to understand ing the margi nalities? Else, b elonging to m ainstream langu age, these wor ds would have
remained banal, vacuous, telling nothing of the hidden or partially closed from our gaze the world of domination,
contests, and str uggles. Scholars point out the signifi cance of the “minor” position of certain words that trans form
as keyw ords— word s crucial to a greater un derst anding. “… ou r definit ion of ‘min or keyword s’ entail s taking m igra-
tion as an analytics that might be deployed to introduce some minor but noneth eless disruptive or even subversive
uses w ithin the established and ta ken- for- granted lexicon of political theory, uns ettling it s internal hierarchies
and destabilizing its regime of truth. Ultimately, it is indubitably the disruptive and incorrigible force of migrants
themse lves within the wider socio- political fie ld, and the lar ger social form ations of migra tion as such, th at unset-
tle the ossifi ed discourses of power…,” write De G enova et al. (2022). They are min or words in the mainstre am of
a language, yet because t hey occupy a min or position in language and comm unication, they acquire a disrup tive
capacity in r elation to our received unde rstanding. Their me anings are open, they have no t been standardised .
Clearly, wit hout a collec tive effort , the collec tion of minor keywords is not a possibili ty. In quizzing political
theory, Nicholas de Genova, Martina Tazzioli and their co- authors adopt migration as a critical standpoint. While
an instructive mode , it leaves unaddre ssed the attempts by governments across the world, especiall y of the North,
to no rmalise “migr ation” by flexible control and management strategies. As a result, words are being incorpo-
rated into the government al language of managing po pulation flows. Hence, even in the lexic on of refugee and
migration studies, we need to locate the contested milieus, locations and meanings. “Border” would be one such
contested word. We shall come to this word later in the concluding part of this note. Suffice it to point out here the
contests arou nd that word. Belonging to the mai nstream history of sta te making and part of the infam ous history
of colonial statecr aft— consider Lo rd Curzon's use of the term “frontier,” border has produce d borderlands. Where
Balibar (2002, pp. 87– 105; 2004) has spoken of Europe as borderland, van Schendel (2005) has shown, people in
© 2023 Internati onal Organizati on for Migration.
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