Banca de DEFESA: NICCOLA JEAN SOMERS

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : NICCOLA JEAN SOMERS
DATE: 09/12/2022
TIME: 09:30
LOCAL: Ambiente Virtual Plataforma: Google Meet / IHAC
TITLE:

Brazilian migration to French Guiana: an analysis of population mobility control

KEY WORDS:

Migration; Mobility; Biopolitics; Globalization; Cooperation; French-Guianese-Brazilian Border. 

PAGES: 160
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Ciência Política
SUMMARY:

An increase in anti-migration measures throughout the world reflects and perpetuates the overarching idea that migration is a problem or a threat that needs to be controlled, and in French Guiana, the only overseas department of France in South America, it can be observed that measures such as visa requirements, checkpoints and more police presence at the border have been put in place to prevent migrants from coming to the department. These measures, some of which are specifically directed towards Brazilians, are an attempt to control the mobility of migrants and ensure they cannot enter or remain in the department legally. Using previous research on Brazilian labor migration to the department and contextualizing it within a period of bilateral cooperation between French Guiana and the State of Amapá, this dissertation seeks to understand how and why Brazilian migrant mobility is controlled within the department. This research also aims to contextualize this migratory situation using Zygmunt Bauman’s understanding of mobility and Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics to determine what role migrant mobility control plays in a biopolitical society. To achieve these objectives, research is conducted through a literature review and follows the timeframe of the conception, construction and opening of the Franco-Brazilian binational bridge (1997-2017), which crosses the Oiapoque river and serves as a physical symbol of cooperation within the region as well as between the two countries. It is concluded that the control of Brazilian migrant mobility is a biopolitical strategy that is enacted by the French government through techniques such as anti-migration measures and the cross-border cooperation agreement. This strategy is enacted in the name of security, meaning that the Brazilian population must be depicted and understood as a threat to the population of French Guiana in order to justify controlling their mobility. At the same time, it is also determined that excluding Brazilians as a means of protection also serves to supply a cheap source of labor for the department by capacitating them to be exploited through the condition of being undocumented. Finally, it is demonstrated that other agents are capable of deploying this biopolitical strategy, such as organized groups within the department’s population, and that they can control migrant social mobility as well through techniques such as biocultural nation-making.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - CARMENTILLA DAS CHAGAS MARTINS - UNIFAP
Externo ao Programa - 2178600 - FERNANDO GIGANTE FERRAZ - nullInterno - 1813503 - JOSE AURIVALDO SACCHETTA RAMOS MENDES