Abstracts Anthropology

'Burning' at the E.U. Borders: Liminality, Belonging, and Morocco'sNew Migrant Class

by Isabella Helena Alexander

On the most basic level, contemporary studies of transnational migration are studies of the socially constructed binary of 'il'/legality, which fundamentally organizes how we experience daily life. Who has the right to access space? And, who has the right to mobility in space? 'Hrig,' the Moroccan Arabic term for 'illegal' immigration, translates to 'burning.' It signifies the literal burning of one's identification papers to avoid repatriation if arrested by European authorities, but also the symbolic burning of one's past in hopes of a better future abroad. Anthropological studies of migration have long been situated in migrants' sending or receiving communities, but saturated labor markets in traditional immigrant-receiving countries have led to less permeable borders and migration routes are changing. The 'migrant'/'refugee' distinction is increasingly problematic, as both now find themselves in liminal spaces of settlement between their homes and desired destinations for months, years, or even generations. This dissertation explores what the 'burning' means for the rapidly expanding population of sub-Saharan migrants trapped in Morocco, the primary crossing point for Africans fleeing economic and political instability, and sets the stage for comparative work, as larger shifts in economic migration from the global south to the global south emerge in coming years. Multiple years of ethnographic fieldwork were centered on sub-Saharans' lived experiences in Moroccan detention centers, borders camps, and migrant-populated slums; migrant-citizen interactions in the marketplaces where smugglers thrive and migrants seek work in black market economies; and the placement of 'illegal' subjects within inter/national discourses. This research contributes to anthropological literature on citizenship and 'illegality,' examining the conflation of race, class, and gender categories with politically vulnerability. While the Maghreb is central to the current migrant crisis, an ethnographic study of Morocco's critical placement between African laborers and E.U. labor markets has been lacking. Findings will be of mounting significance to scholars and policymakers alike, as European-funded border controls across the Maghreb continue to illustrate the E.U.'s desire to mold Morocco into a final destination for all African migrations north, and both sides of the border fail to uphold international human rights conventions. Advisors/Committee Members: Cherribi, Sam (Committee Member), Peletz, Michael (Committee Member), Little, Peter (Committee Member), Freeman, Carla (Thesis Advisor).