Wandering and settled tribes

Biopolitics, Citizenship, and the Racialized Migrant

Bibliographic Data

ID4840795
AuthorsRobert Topinka (0000-0001-9795-3999, Northwestern University, corresponding author), Robert J Topinka
Year2016
Volume20
Issue3-4
Pages444-456
Publication date2016-05-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621025.2015.1107026
OpenAlexW2179859413
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

This paper argues that purportedly outdated racial categories continue to resonate in contemporary forms of racialization. I examine the use of metaphors of rootedness and shadows by a contemporary UK migrant advocacy organization and its allies to justify migrant regularization and manage illicit circulation. I argue that the distinction between rooted and rootless peoples draws on the colonial and racial distinctions between wandering and settled peoples. Contemporary notions of citizenship continue to draw upon and activate racial forms of differentiation. Citizenship is thus part of a form of racial governance that operates not only along biological but also social and cultural lines, infusing race into the structures, practices, and techniques of governance

Biopower · Citizenship · Colonialism · Corporate governance · Governmentality · Political science · Politics · Racial formation theory · Racialization · Racism · Sociology · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration