Panel 96: Transnationalism and Illegal Immigration from Africa to Southern Europe: A Gender Perspective

The contemporary African diaspora to Europe, development, illegality and gender relations are the theorethical framework that ground the project “Migrations Trajectories from Africa, illegality and gender: a comparative analysis of Portugal and Italy.” Granted by FCT/CIG, the project is still ongoing at ICS-UL under the coordination of the panel proposer. Currently, while data gathered from interviews are still being analyzed, this panel seeks to discuss the notion of illegal immigration, both in the legal sphere and in relation to the perception of social order. The consequences on the lives and opportunities of migrants, characterized by varying social conditions and personal life stories, originates disparities in access to labor markets and citizenship rights, where situations of greater or lesser vulnerability to human rights abuses arise. Taking into account the crucial role of gender as an analytical category to understand increasing concerns about the regulation of migratory flows, both at European and national levels, issues regarding the notion of illegality, when attributed to migrant practices come about through normative attitudes in the host countries, marginalizing social agents who are perceived to engage in practices that fall outside the perceived norm.

Proposals that bring to light original data collected within different National african diasporas through multi-disciplinary forms of knowledge production, clarifying our understanding of the complexities of migrant life from a bottom-up perspective, and engaged on the basis of mutual respect, are strongly encouraged.