Paper details

Paper authors	Marta Welander
In panel on	Resisting Border Violence: The Role of Civil Society, Local Actors, and Researchers
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person & Online

Abstract

The UK–France borderzone in northern France, where human mobilities meet state efforts to control and contain migratory movement, is notorious for its precarious and violent nature. The violence associated with border struggles here extends beyond direct physical force, encompassing an insidious array of tactics aimed at eroding people’s autonomy, agency, and wellbeing — a phenomenon which can be described as a ‘politics of exhaustion’ (Welander, 2021). In response, activists, civil society groups, people on the move and researchers have, for decades, sought to interpret and challenge this violence, as well as the containment and tragic border-related deaths it produces. This paper examines these efforts and proposes a tentative typology of resistance to border violence at the UK–France border, drawing on a combination of desk-based and field research. It identifies and categorises the diverse practices, strategies, and discourses through which these actors contest the harms enacted by border regimes. In doing so, it highlights the political and ethical stakes of border struggles and contributes to broader debates on solidarity, mobility justice, and the contestation of state violence.

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