How Do Civil Society Organizations Challenge Bordering Practices in Calais?

Sammanfattning

In this thesis, I explore the topic of migration and specifically the case of Calais. Approaching it from a non-state perspective, I focus on the practices of civil society organizations that support people on the move and ask if and how these practices challenge state policies and practices. With the conscious decision to focus on this type of actor, coupled with a reflexivist methodology, I seek to disrupt the dominant narrative constructed by France, the United Kingdom and European Union, and avoid reproducing state- and Eurocentric knowledge in academia. In order to gain an in-depth understanding, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in form of participant observation and semi-structured interviews in Calais between the beginning of April and May 2022. Drawing on additional textual data and engaging with scholarly debates on the concept of solidarity, I adapt the concept of “de-bordering solidarity” to analyse the practices of CSOs embedded within the border zone's local and regional context. I conclude by arguing that they do challenge the state while also highlighting the nuances and contradictions of solidarity practices.