MANIF : Colloque « Crossing Sexual Borders » — 13 et 14 juin 2019, Saint-Denis

  • 13 et 14 juin
  • Amphi­théâtre de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH) Paris Nord, 20 Avenue George Sand, 93210 Saint-Denis
    (Métro : ligne 12, station Front Populaire)
  • Colloque en anglais
  • Orga­ni­sa­tion : Éric Fassin (Paris 8 Univer­sity, LEGS) et Manuela Salcedo (Défen­seur des droits-CNRS, LEGS)
  • Comité d’or­ga­ni­sa­tion :
    Lucas Monteil (Paris 8 Univer­sity, LEGS)
    Caro­line Ibos (Rennes 2 Univer­sity, LEGS)
    Anne-Cécile Caseau (Paris 8 Univer­sity, LEGS)
    Seba Cesaro (Paris 8 Univer­sity, LEGS)

Présentation

Sex has to do with borders. This can involve very different logics. Migra­tion may be the result of inti­mate rela­tion­ships, for example through family reuni­fi­ca­tion. Sex can also make migra­tion possible – in parti­cular in the case of sex work. However, these two logics are not always so easy to distin­gui­shed. For example, bina­tional marriages are alter­na­tely consi­dered as the cause or as the instru­ment of migra­tion.
This is due to the fact that, conver­sely, borders have to do with sex. Migra­tion is some­times a way to flee from perse­cu­tion based on sexual or gender iden­tity. Indeed, States often use sex to define borders, and accor­dingly decide whether to let people in, or keep them out. Forced marriage, poly­gamy, and genital muti­la­tions are used as argu­ments to open borders to the persons who are reco­gnized as victims, and close them for those that are held respon­sible for their plight.
without borders and the borders of sex multi­pli­city of agents – not only migrants, but also the various inter­me­dia­ries, from judges to acti­vists, inclu­ding inter­pre­ters. It has conse­quences on indi­vi­duals who migrate, as sexual iden­tity does not exist inde­pendent of these power rela­tions : the subjec­ti­va­tion of migrants is thus inse­pa­rable from State poli­cies.
Finally, the sexua­li­za­tion of migra­tion is both an empi­rical reality and a symbolic one : sex is also a discourse that produces borders as it draws a line between “us” and “them.” For example, on the one hand, “brown women” deserve “our” protec­tion ; on the other, “brown men” can threaten “our” women, and thus justify closing borders, as was the case after the Cologne attacks.
This confe­rence will not isolate one aspect or another among these diverse issues ; on the contrary, it is intended to make them reso­nate toge­ther. This confe­rence is part of the project on “Gender and Sexua­lity in Migra­tion,” and it is supported by the CNRS research center LEGS, along with the MSH Paris-Nord and the Univer­sité Paris 8.

Télé­charger le programme de l’évè­ne­ment ici