The ‘street politics’ of migrant il/legality: Navigating Malaysia's urban borderscape

Abstract

Immigration control constitutes a particular technique for regulating urban space and for controlling and disciplining migrant subjects within it. Unlike other manifestations of state power in exemplary urban settings, the architecture of urban immigration control is not recognisable through grand buildings or walls, but rather through its momentary presence and continuously shifting location: ad hoc identity controls in public spaces, roadblocks in neighbourhood streets or raids against workplaces. Building on fieldwork conducted in the Malaysian city of George Town, this article takes an interest in how migrants navigate this urban borderscape in order to avoid exploitation and encounters with the police. Read through Asef Bayat's notion of ‘street politics’, the article shows how migrants use the means (made) available to them in order to extend their room to manoeuvre. While such tactics are often driven by the force of necessity, they do nonetheless cumulatively encroach on the state's ability to produce migrants as (un)wanted or even (il)legal subjects in the city. Through this, migrants also challenge the very notion of what an exemplary urban space is as well as who is considered a legitimate part of it.

The fire this time: Grenfell, racial capitalism and the urbanisation of empire

“…In São Paolo, the bid to overtake Rio de Janeiro has created an urban landscape where ‘black bodies are exploited in the job market, segregated in favelas, incarcerated, beaten’ and killed by the police (Alves, 2014: 324). Evidence from other global cities, such as Cape Town, Dubai and New York, tells of roughly similar stories of raced forms of exclusion, appropriation and displacement (Alawadi, 2014; Cowen and Lewis, 2016; Davis, 2007; Franck, 2019; Kelley, 2012; Samara, 2011). While, of course, the specificities of urban renewal look different in all these cities, a broader pattern of racialised inclusion and exclusion nonetheless stands out.…”

From Sectors to Circuits: Re‐Describing Senegambian In/Formal Practices in Europe, and Beyond

“…Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Dutch Geographical Society / Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig the city. These everyday actions are the 'street politics' (Franck 2019, building on the work of Bayat 2010) that allow people to express discontent through their everyday performances. The concept of in/formal circuits and the illustrations in this paper also raises a methodological question: If formal/informal practices intersect, if circuits are constantly on the move and form circulatory territories (Tarrius 1993), and if circuits make sectors blend into each other, what methodological instruments do we need to capture them?…”

“…The latter is not only highlighted in the city of Barcelona through the syndicate of street vendors, but also through individual acts of transgression and camouflage in the everyday making and re‐making of the city. These everyday actions are the ‘street politics’ (Franck 2019, building on the work of Bayat 2010) that allow people to express discontent through their everyday performances.…”

“…At the same time, these social positions are actively and continuously contested through processes of social navigation by the same women in question. The act of camouflage (in Fatima’s case) is thereby a powerful illustration that challenges the deeply entrenched notion that people active in in/formal circuits lack a sense of agency (Lindell 2010; Franck 2019).…”

Kesepaduan Nasional Penduduk Kawasan Rukun Tetangga di Malaysia

“…Di peringkat dalaman negara, tahun 2019 telah digelar oleh Mustafa (2020) sebagai "...a chaotic year of party-political and electoral fatigue, social discontent, and economic slowdown..." (p. 100). Ini dapat dilihat daripada isu-isu yang tular dalam media sosial dalam tempoh 2018-2019 seperti ICERD, UEC, pendatang tanpa izin; percaturan parti politik, prestasi Kerajaan Persekutuan, perletakan jawatan Yang di-Pertuan Agong XV, tuduhan rasuah pemimpin negara dan isu 1MDB, persoalan ekonomi seperti peningkatan kos sara hidup dan kualiti hidup (Prashanta, 2018;Kartini & Suraiya, 2019;Lee, 2018;Ehmer & Kothari, 2020;Franck, 2019;Ufen, 2020;Mustafa, 2020). Mengambil kira keadaan seperti di atas, satu kajian telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji sejauh mana terbinanya kesepaduan nasional dalam kalangan penduduk KRT di Malaysia pada pasca IPNas 2018.…”