Contesting the place of protest in migrant caravans

Bibliographic Data

ID19009764
AuthorsMargaret Franz (0000-0002-2740-3542, University of Tampa, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume54
Issue2
Pages181-189
Publication date2020-07-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFirst Amendment Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2168-9725 • E-ISSN: 2168-9733
PublisherNational Communication Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1080/21689725.2020.1837648
OpenAlexW3098730056
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

Restrictions on assembly, all of which disproportionately target Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, demonstrate that the freedom to assemble depends on state-defined temporal, behavioral, and spatial boundaries of political practice. This essay analyzes how the migrant caravans organized by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (PSF) push against the state-derived boundaries on assembly. Specifically, it focuses on two tactics deployed by the caravans: (1) using the term caravan and caravana to describe border crossing, and (2) media practices that turned undocumented border crossing into border refusal. These tactics contested the nation-state sovereignty required to mark its jurisdiction, and thus, to decide on the correct place and form of politics. In the end, the essay argues that the caravan expanded what it means to freely assemble by turning undocumented migration into protest. Communication scholars should pay attention to this expansion because it illuminates alternate ways of being political that push against the legacy of nation-state sovereignty and colonization

Indigenous · Jurisdiction · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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