Uncertain belongings: Absent mourning, burial, and post-mortem repatriations at the external border of the EU in Spain

Perl, Gerhild (2016): Uncertain belongings: Absent mourning, burial, and post-mortem repatriations at the external border of the EU in Spain. In: Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2: pp. 195-209

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, migrants from North African and sub-Saharan countries have irregularly crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in the hope of a better future for themselves and their families. Travelling in small, poorly equipped boats without experienced captains has cost the lives of myriad border-crossers. Exploring the junction of death and belonging, I first open a discussion about the enigmatic relation between a dead body and a dead person and argue for the importance of the physical presence of the body for mourning. Second, I show how the anonymity of dead border-crossers and their uncertain belongings are generated, concealed, or rewritten. Following the story of an undertaker, I third examine post-mortem border crossings. Depicting the power relations within identification processes, I outline the ambiguity of the term belonging by emphasising the constitutive significance of personal belongings such as clothes to restore a person's identity. Reflecting on the ethical relationships which different actors (including the researcher) undertake with the deceased, I aim at gaining a better understanding of the multiple belongings of dead border-crossers found on Spanish shores.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Cultural Studies > Department of Ancient and Modern Cultures > Ethnology
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology; 300 Social sciences > 320 Political science; 300 Social sciences > 360 Social problems and social services
• ISSN: 1469-9540
• Language: English