Urban Translocalities The Role of Cities in Transnational Migration International conference ‘Transnational identities, cities unbound, migrations redefined’ Centre for European Studies, Jagiellonian University Kraków, 6 -8 th October 2006 Dr. Giulia Sinatti University of Milan-Bicocca London School of Economics
Transnationalism l l An increasingly characteristic feature of contemporary migrations. Migrants live their lives across multiple countries, giving way to flows of circulating and mobile people, resources, images.
Translocalities l l The locus in which migrants’ networks are ‘pinned down’ in given nodes (Appadurai 1995 and 1996; Smith 2001). Collective sites of reference, that transcend the multiple trajectories of individual paths.
A new way of conceptualising space and place l l Idea of movement and flows: Translocalities are established in connection with other places. Idea of bodily co-presence: Translocalities are constructed as settings for social interaction.
A new role for cities … Translocalities are typically established in urban areas: l l Mobility as a characteristic interest of urban scholars. Insertion in urban areas as a central issue within migration studies.
What is a translocality in practice? the translocalities of Senegalese migration …
Dakar: a port of migration l l Pole of attraction for South-South migration. City of origin or of forced passage for every international migrant. Port of departure for current illegal emigration “Barça or Barsakh”. Place not only of symbolic, but also of material investment in the home-country.
Barça or Barsakh
Place of material investment …
… and symbolic investment “It’s a sign of success and having made it in life for a Senegalese to have a house in Dakar. You can even be a multimillionaire, but for as long as you […] don’t have a house in Dakar you are nobody. This idea is so deeply rooted in the mentality of all Senegalese, from the highly educated international executive down to the Senegalese who can’t even sign his name: they all think the same way. ” (TD, Dakar)
Zingonia: a ‘Little Senegal’ l l High concentrations of resident Senegalese. Commercial base for informal import-export merchants. Place of strong passage for Senegalese living in Northern Italy. Place of symbolic reference for the Senegalese community.
Centre of passage “In Zingonia one finds information, information on the Senegalese world, or one may come here to shake off a bit of nostalgia with his countrymen, in a Senegalese environment where one can chat, drink tea with friends. One comes here to find out about the latest Senegalese novelties: cassettes, videos and many other things. Or else one comes here for religious reasons: to go to the Daara, pray and listen to religious chants. Or again one comes here to use services: phone centres, money transfer, to buy tropical products, food […]. Zingonia is a centre and it is good for this kind of resources it offers” (HD, Zingonia)
A conquered land “Zingonia is almost Africa, because there are many, many Senegalese” (AD, Zingonia) “I’d say Zingonia is Africa. Zingonia is no longer a part of Italy” (SF, Zingonia)
Place of temporary residence … Similarly to Dakar, Zingonia is a place where every Senegalese can count on an acquaintance to help him out in the first steps: “Not all those who arrive here stop here. They may stay for a while, until they have sorted out their documents, found a way of insertion, found a job … then they leave and find their own way” (MT, Zingonia).
The features of translocalities … Commonalities: l Not places of departure or arrival, but stepping stones along the migration path. l Places of passage or transit, as such divorced from their national hinterland. Differences: l Dakar as outward looking: a gateway to the West (openinness and change). l Zingonia as backward looking towards homeland (conservation and nostalgia).
Thank you giulia. sinatti@yahoo. it
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