TY - JOUR

T1 - The Politics of (Non)Knowledge in the (Un)Making of Migration

AU - Scheel, Stephan

PY - 2021/2/2

Y1 - 2021/2/2

N2 - In the past decade, constructivist understandings of migration have gainedmomentum in migration studies. Scholars have shown how (some) peopleare enacted as ›migrants‹ when human mobility clashes with nation-states’claimed prerogative to control »the legitimate means of movement« (Torpey).Another body of scholarship has highlighted the crucial role played byknowledge practices in the enactment of migration as an intelligible object ofgovernment. However, these two lines of inquiry have largely been conductedindependently of each other. To better account for how practices of bordercontrol affect the production of knowledge about migration and how thelatter, in turn, informs practices and rationales of migration management,this article asks: How can we conceptualize and empirically investigate therelationship between enacting migration through knowledge practices andenacting migrants through practices of bordering? In response to this question,I propose a sociology of translation and treason in the tradition of theActor-Network Theory (ANT), which enables tracing how records producedin border encounters are translated into not only ›migration facts‹ but alsovarious forms of nonknowledge. To demonstrate the analytical potential ofthis approach, I show how statistical knowledge about the ›deportation gap‹– often invoked to justify ever-more restrictive measures in the field of returnpolicy – is, to a significant extent, a result of the mistranslation of returnedmigrants in administrative records used for migration statistics.

AB - In the past decade, constructivist understandings of migration have gainedmomentum in migration studies. Scholars have shown how (some) peopleare enacted as ›migrants‹ when human mobility clashes with nation-states’claimed prerogative to control »the legitimate means of movement« (Torpey).Another body of scholarship has highlighted the crucial role played byknowledge practices in the enactment of migration as an intelligible object ofgovernment. However, these two lines of inquiry have largely been conductedindependently of each other. To better account for how practices of bordercontrol affect the production of knowledge about migration and how thelatter, in turn, informs practices and rationales of migration management,this article asks: How can we conceptualize and empirically investigate therelationship between enacting migration through knowledge practices andenacting migrants through practices of bordering? In response to this question,I propose a sociology of translation and treason in the tradition of theActor-Network Theory (ANT), which enables tracing how records producedin border encounters are translated into not only ›migration facts‹ but alsovarious forms of nonknowledge. To demonstrate the analytical potential ofthis approach, I show how statistical knowledge about the ›deportation gap‹– often invoked to justify ever-more restrictive measures in the field of returnpolicy – is, to a significant extent, a result of the mistranslation of returnedmigrants in administrative records used for migration statistics.

KW - Sociology

KW - Epistemologie

KW - Grenzen

KW - Performativität

KW - Nichtwissen

KW - Migrationsmanagement

KW - Statistiken

UR - https://journals.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/index.php/zmf

U2 - 10.48439/zmf.v1i2.113

DO - 10.48439/zmf.v1i2.113

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 1

SP - 39

EP - 71

JO - Journal for Migration Research

JF - Journal for Migration Research

SN - 2747-4631

IS - 2

ER -