Beyond the Single Story of "Migration Management": Creating Space for "Epistemic Disobedience" in Engaging with Migration in Social Work

  • In recent years, Mignolo’s concept of “border thinking” became an increasingly relevant critical framework to analyze the complexity of migration processes to postcolonial Europe (Lutz, Sachau, & Stauß, 2017; Zannou, & Pfaffenstaller, 2020). It differentiates between external and internal borders; whereby the latter refers to the modern/colonial world system and its epistemological conceptualizations in the postcolonial era that continue to be dominated by the hegemonic order of Eurocentric discourses - here on migration (Mignolo, 2000). Within a reductionist approach to the complexity of migration processes (Mayblin, 2016), motives of migration are often analyzed within a single-story framework that considers solely the perspectives of European-destination countries – disregarding the external border that considers the perspectives of the subaltern (Zannou & Pfaffenstaller, 2020). In addition, the applied framework constructs Europe as in need to protect its welfare systems from overload and exploitation, and its societies from infiltration (Mayblin, 2016). The so-called “root causes” for migration are sought in “underdevelopment” and inter- and intraregional conflicts for land/resources and power. Its close and complex relations to colonial legacies however, are often left unconsidered (Zannou, & Pfaffenstaller, 2020; Lutz, Sachau, & Stauß, 2017). Yet, the imprints of colonial rule on former colonized states continue to impact social, political and economic structures on both sides, thereby shaping knowledge production (Mignolo, 2013). In our presentation, we critically discuss the dominant Eurocentric discourse on “migration management” and its universality claims. Focusing specifically on social work, we sketch out how the production of research and the (self) understanding of the social work profession within the welfare state are often entangled in (re)producing hegemonic discourse. With Mignolo, we reflect on the possibilities of “epistemic disobedience” (Mignolo, 2009; 2013) and its demands for universality in social work education, research and practice.

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Metadaten
Author:Robel Afeworki Abay, Tanja Kleibl, Petra Daňková, Anna-Lisa Klages
Persistent identifier:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349693595_Beyond_the_Single_Story_of_Migration_Management_Creating_Space_for_Epistemic_Disobedience_in_Engaging_with_Migration_in_Social_Work
Parent Title (English):The 21st International Conference of Migration "Border Thinking"
Document Type:Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Year of publication:2021
Release Date:2024/03/15
Faculties and institutes:Fakultäten / Fakultät Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften
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