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This thesis explores the role of translation in the production and manipulation of identities in the contemporary Americas as exemplified in the work of Guillermo Gómez-Peña. Underscoring the instrumentality of borders vis-à-vis dominant constructions of identity and in connection with questions of language, race, and citizenship, I argue that translation not only functions as an agent of hegemonic superiority and oppression, but also as a locus of plurivocity and hybridization. Drawing from the concepts “continuous variation” (Deleuze and Guattari [1987] 2004), “coloniality of power” (Mignolo 2000), and “hybridization” (García-Canclini 1995), I discuss the connection of translation with three main topics: monolingualism, globalization, and racial hybridity. First, I discuss the influence that the dominant ideology of the nation-state has exerted on the way translation has been conceptualized since translation studies emerged as a field. Then I turn to colonial legacies in the Americas and the role of translation in situations of language hegemony as shaped by forces of assimilation and diversification. Finally, I look at translation as a crucial agent for the production and legitimization of Latin American identity throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Viewing translation as a performative and transformative activity, I critique a number of contemporary approaches to translation and I point to new understandings of translation as a cluster concept (Tymoczko 2007) in order to expand translation theory and practice beyond Western paradigms.

In the 14th century the formation and consolidation of the territorial sovereignties of the archbishop-electors of Trier and the dukes of Luxemburg was largely completed. The transformation towards territorial states resulted in the formation of an increasingly clear border between the two territories. However, the simplified representation of complex, partly overlapping border zones in the form of abstracting lines had yet to be developed. The earliest regional maps in the humanistic period of the first half of the 16th century do not show any borders, the first regional map with an indicated partial border marking date from 1555.

The securitisation and externalisation of Europe's borders have had devastating consequences for people trying to cross them. As Greece is on the periphery of the European Union, its role in this process and in the journey of people on the move is crucial. This thesis focuses on the situation in the city of Patras (Northern Peloponnese) and the informal camp set up by people on the move there. Drawing from interviews with volunteers working in Patras and previous research related to Patras or other Greek refugee camps, this thesis applies the concept of borderscapes in order to understand the situation in Patras. The aspect of resistance that people on the move create against borders is central to the thesis, as it lies at the heart of the relationship that people on the move have with the borders they face. Furthermore, analysis through the conceptual lens of borderscapes explains how the border, like Patras itself, is a violent place in many different ways. Finally, I will highlight the paradoxical role that volunteers play in this system of bordering and how the mobility and visibility of people on the move are linked to European policies and strategies to selectively restrict certain types of migration.

The world is changing and humanitarian organisations need to be equipped to change with it. This case study has examined the internal democracy within the association of Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF), the creation of social capital and how it can be used to create bottom-up medical organisational change though motions. The selection of 6 motions was made to investigate if they have created the change they intended to create. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that members have the power to create organisational change and that such changes depend on a high degree of internal membership democracy. Internal democracy is in turn a precondition for the formation of social capital. In total were 12 in depth interviews conducted with members, former and current board members as well as the executive. In addition to this has an analysis of video recoded motion debates and feedback session been analysed along with other relevant internal documentation. The study has found that the association of MSF is founded on democratic principles as a mean to guide and hold the executive responsible and fulfils formal criterion for a democracy. The internal democracy has a series of weaknesses in it, like lack of participation from members and unequal weight of influences of different members and national associations. It is also facing threats of executive manipulation due to weak boards. Despite this the association has created a strong social capital that unfortunately is unevenly distributed among the members and its social capital is at risk of declining. Regarding motions there is a lot of potential in this formal tool of influence, but often it is not the motion itself but what the motion writers and audience do with the information as well as if the executive agrees with the motions that create the intended change. It can be interpreted as if down-top approaches to operational medical organisational change only will be achieved if the “top” agrees to the change. In conclusion, the assumption of this thesis has thus been proven to a certain extent. Members have the power to create organisational change through motions but their ability to do that depends on a high degree of internal democracy but also on informal contacts. Social capital is built in the process in the social networks that each association form individually as well as together with all MSF associations. However it is not necessarily a precondition to organisational change even though it is a product of the existing internal democracy. MSF has the opportunity to strengthen the democratic process and to be better equipped to create organisational change in the future.

[ES] Esta investigación explora la naturaleza discursiva de los muros fronterizos contemporáneos, así como su vínculo con la construcción del relato de la migración contemporánea. Para ello adoptamos enfoques, conceptos y técnicas provenientes de cinco campos de estudio: la sociología, la historia, la filosofía, el arte y la sociosemiótica. Iniciamos nuestro trabajo introduciendo la noción de «fronterización», propuesta por los investigadores Henk Van Houtum y Ton Van Naerssen. Complementamos esta perspectiva con las nociones de «otredad», «raza», «vigilancia» y «globalización», propuestas por autores como Byung-Chul Han, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Zygmunt Bauman y David Lyon. Posteriormente, nos adentramos en el campo de la sociosemiótica, del cual tomamos prestada la metodología propuesta por Oscar Steimberg para realizar un análisis discursivo de cinco muros fronterizos contemporáneos que constituyen nuestros casos de estudio. Estos son: 1) Prototipos del muro entre Estados Unidos y México, 2) Muro entre Marruecos y el Sahara Occidental, 3) Muro entre Marruecos y España, 4) Muro entre Turquía y Siria, 5) La gran muralla europea: muros de los Balcanes, del Báltico y del Ártico. A través de este análisis identificamos rasgos retóricos, enunciativos y temáticos, a partir de los cuales hallamos reiteraciones discursivas que nos posibilitan identificar repertorios genérico-estilísticos que permiten comprender los discursos que prevalecen en los muros contemporáneos, así como las ideas de mundo que estos comunican. Finalmente, contrastamos estos discursos con un repertorio de temas identificados en la obra de cinco artistas contemporáneos, quienes cuestionan el posicionamiento frente al «otro» en un contexto marcado por el endurecimiento de las fronteras y el levantamiento de vallas y muros fronterizos. Estos artistas son: 1) Ai Weiwei, 2) Rubén Martín de Lucas, 3) Mona Hatoum, 4) el colectivo C.A.S.I.T.A. y 5) Francis Alÿs. / [CA] Aquesta investigació explora la naturalesa discursiva dels murs fronterers contemporanis, així com el seu vincle amb la construcció del relat de la migració contemporània. Per a això adoptem enfocaments, conceptes i tècniques provinents de cinc camps d'estudi: la sociologia, la història, la filosofia, l'art i la sociosemiòtica. Iniciem el nostre treball introduint la noció de «fronterització» proposta pels investigadors Henk Van Houtum i Ton Van Naerssen. Complementem aquesta perspectiva amb les nocions de «alteritat», «raça», «vigilància» i «globalització», propostes per autors com Byung-Chul Han, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Zygmunt Bauman i David Lyon. Posteriorment, ens endinsem en el camp de la sociosemiòtica, de la qual prenem prestada la metodologia proposada per Oscar Steimberg per a realitzar una anàlisi discursiva de cinc murs fronterers contemporanis que constitueixen els nostres casos d'estudi. Aquests són: 1) Prototips del mur entre els Estats Units i Mèxic, 2) Muro entre el Marroc i el Sàhara Occidental, 3) Muro entre el Marroc i Espanya, 4) Muro entre Turquia i Síria, 5) La gran muralla europea: murs dels Balcans, del Bàltic i de l'Àrtic. A través d'aquesta anàlisi identifiquem trets retòrics, enunciatius i temàtics, a partir dels quals trobem reiteracions discursives que ens possibiliten identificar repertoris genèric-estilístics que permeten comprendre els discursos que prevalen en els murs contemporanis, així com les idees de món que aquests comuniquen. Finalment, contrastem aquests discursos amb un repertori de temes identificats en l'obra de cinc artistes contemporanis, els qui qüestionen el posicionament enfront del «altre» en un context marcat per l'enduriment de les fronteres i l'alçament de tanques i murs fronterers. Aquests artistes són: 1) Ai Weiwei, 2) Rubén Martín de Lucas, 3) Mona Hatoum, 4) el col·lectiu C.A.S.I.T.A. i 5) Francis Alÿs. / [EN] This research explores the discursive nature of contemporary border walls and their ties to the construction of the contemporary migration narrative. To do so, we adopt approaches, concepts, and techniques drawn from five fields of study: sociology, history, philosophy, art, and socio-semiotics. We begin our work by introducing the notion of «bordering», proposed by researchers Henk Van Houtum and Ton Van Naerssen. We complement this perspective with the notions of «otherness», «race», «surveillance», and «globalization», proposed by authors such as Byung-Chul Han, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Zygmunt Bauman, and David Lyon. Subsequently, we delve into the field of socio-semiotics, from which we borrow the methodology proposed by Oscar Steimberg to conduct a discursive analysis of five contemporary border walls that constitute our case studies. These are: 1) Prototypes of the wall between the United States and Mexico, 2) The Moroccan wall in Western Sahara, 3) The wall between Morocco and Spain, 4) The wall between Turkey and Syria, 5) The great European wall: walls of the Balkans, the Baltic, and the Arctic. Through this analysis, we identify rhetorical, enunciative, and thematic features, from which we find discursive reiterations that make it possible to identify generic-stylistic repertoires allowing us to understand the discourses that prevail on contemporary walls and the ideas of the world they communicate. Finally, we contrast these discourses with a repertoire of themes identified in the work of five contemporary artists who question the positioning towards the «other» in a context characterized by the hardening of borders and the raising of fences and border walls. These artists are: 1) Ai Weiwei, 2) Rubén Martín de Lucas, 3) Mona Hatoum, 4) the collective C.A.S.I.T.A., and 5) Francis Alÿs. / Urrea Montoya, M. (2023). Muros y fronteras. Aproximaciones discursivas y artísticas al relato de la migración contemporánea [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/198899

The article takes up the question of the meaning and function of borders and their regions from a medieval perspective. In a diachronic overview, the emergence of the borders of the later German Empire and their not always linear development are traced. It turns out that often retrospective research results in the sense of a national historiography were used for geographical legitimations rather than a retrospective view of an intertwined genesis of borders. Even though more recent research on the Middle Ages has turned away from approaches based purely on modern states, the national master narratives remain quite effective.

[pt] Diversos processos nos últimos vinte e cinco anos vêm transformando o entendimento das fronteiras e da mobilidade internacional, com um número cada vez maior de pessoas que se deslocam e de fronteiras que se multiplicam para além dos limites territoriais de cada estado. Ao lado desses processos, que alteram a velocidade do movimento, criam novos caminhos para a circulação e oferecem novas formas de vigilância e bloqueio dos indivíduos, a interpretação das fronteiras começa a ser redefinida buscando dar conta desses novos processos, tanto para facilita-los quanto para proibi-los. Seguindo essas transformações no entendimento das fronteiras e com um histórico de constantes inovações nas políticas migratórias, a Austrália em 2013 adotou a Operation Sovereign Borders, uma operação que abarca diversas dessas transformações. A Operation Sovereign Borders criou e institucionalizou novas práticas de controle da imigração, sendo permeada por uma racionalidade específica do medo da invasão e apoiada em extensas e controversas inovações legislativas. O presente trabalho apresenta as diferentes transformações das fronteiras e suas interpretações, explorando para isso o caso australiano, seu campo de controle de imigração e fronteiras, os atores desse campo, sua legislação, racionalidade e práticas. / [en] Different processes in the last twenty-five years have transformed the understanding of borders and international mobility, with an increasing number of people on the move and borders that multiply beyond the territorial limits of the state. Alongside these processes that alter the speed of movement, create new pathways for circulation and offer new forms of surveillance and blocking of individuals, the interpretation of borders is being redefined seeking to account for these new processes, both to facilitate them and to prohibit them. Following these changes in the understanding of borders and with a history of constant innovations in immigration policies, Australia in 2013 adopted the Operation Sovereign Borders, an operation that encompasses several of these transformations in seeking greater control and by using more violence against asylum seekers. The Operation Sovereign Borders created and institutionalized new immigration control practices, being permeated by a specific rationality of the fear of invasion and supported by extensive and controversial legislative innovations. This dissertation presents the transformations of borders and their interpretations, exploring the Australian case, its field of migration and border control, the actors in this field, its legislative structure, its rationality and practices.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka manifestationer av en exkluderande migrationslagstiftning i en inkluderande frivårdspraktik. Fokus har legat på frivårdsinspektörers egna upplevelser av möjligheter att utföra sitt uppdrag i relation till irreguljära migranter dömda för brott, samt de sätt på vilka man förhåller sig till svårigheter och dilemman i det praktiska arbetet. Syftet har även varit att försöka förstå frivårdsinspektörers uppdrag och roll som frontlinjebyråkrater vid välfärdsstatens gränser. insamling av empiri har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta frivårdsinspektörer som arbetar med övervakning i samband med skyddstillsynsdom eller efter villkorlig frigivning. Studien visar på att frivårdsinspektörer upplever sina möjligheter att utföra sitt återfallsförebyggande och (åter)integrerande arbete som begränsade i relation till aktuell målgrupp. Att irreguljära migranter i hög utsträckning exkluderas från hjälp och stöd inom välfärdssystemen och samtidigt saknar rätt att arbeta anges som huvudanledningar. Denna exkludering förefaller även bidra till att den rationalitet med betoning på individens ansvar för val och beteenden och som ligger bakom implementerad arbetsmetod utmanas. Genom att den stöttande delen av uppdraget begränsas urholkas uppdraget till att främst omfatta den kontrollerande delen. Det visar sig även att avsaknad av riktlinjer och stöd i uppdraget kring målgruppens specifika förutsättningar bidrar till att nya praktiker skapas för gruppen irreguljära migranter som ej ligger i linje med myndighetens generella policy och målsättning. Genom analys med hjälp av gränsteorier blir det tydligt att frivårdsinspektörer blir delaktiga i en gränspraktik som genom de sätt på vilka dessa använder sitt handlingsutrymme bidrar till att antingen utmana eller befästa gränser för tillhörighet och rättigheter.

Is it possible to conceive of migrants as active stakeholders of migration and asylum policies rather than passive objects of political and humanitarian intervention? In the public discourse on migration, migrants' voices are largely ignored and their political future in the reception country is often that of ascribed muteness and disenfranchisement. Yet, migrants have a voice, a history, a context, and therefore, potential aspirations to a political existence. In this dissertation, I propose an empirical study of the migratory journeys that occurred during what has been known as "the summer of migration," which described the incoming of migrants via the Aegean Sea and through the Western Balkans to Germany and the rest of Northern Europe. Based on field observations in initial reception centers for asylum seekers in Hamburg and semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who came to Germany between 2015 and 2016, this dissertation proposes an analytical framework that provides a critical approach to the migration management regime and migrants migratory journey narratives. The claim of this dissertation is double. First it argues that it is analytically necessary to systematize the production of immanent knowledge about migrants' journeys through their own subjectivities. Such a perspective enables a deeper understanding of the impact of human mobility on state sovereignty, borderscapes and the workings of the migration management regime. Second, it is equally necessary to politically contribute to the normalization of integrating migrants' voices in the public debate and discourse to address oppressive practices of migration management and control. / Ph. D.