Abstract
PrintRights, a co-operative of undocumented asylum seekers in Amsterdam, manufactured facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic, first distributing them to undocumented migrants residing in the city’s emergency shelter system and then selling them to the wider public. By distributing facemasks with messages, PrintRights framed its action within the human right to freedom of expression to legally resist alienage law prohibitions on employment. Engaging Judith Butler’s theory, this article analyzes the relationship between PrintRights’ resistance, vulnerability, and strategic engagement with human rights law. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with PrintRights, I explore how vulnerability discourse in human rights law can support undocumented migrant organizing..
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-17 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Refuge |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 23 Aug 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:As discussed in the “Legal Context” subsection, the prohibition on employment creates an embedded vulnerability by making a certain group of people unemployable, and is also tied to vulnerability to power because this is a state-enforced prohibition that is highly policed. In light of this vulnerability, material and technical support were necessary for the 1,000 masks action. Butler’s concept of supported action is applicable here, not to prescribe a teleological account of resistance or as causation but, rather, to reveal undocumented people’s need for support in order to organize given the extent of their embedded vulnerability and vulnerability to state power. To organize and fund the initial action, the 1,000 masks project, Here to Support facilitated start-up grants from social organizations and from the municipality of Amsterdam.
Publisher Copyright:
© Dez, J. 2022.
Funding
As discussed in the “Legal Context” subsection, the prohibition on employment creates an embedded vulnerability by making a certain group of people unemployable, and is also tied to vulnerability to power because this is a state-enforced prohibition that is highly policed. In light of this vulnerability, material and technical support were necessary for the 1,000 masks action. Butler’s concept of supported action is applicable here, not to prescribe a teleological account of resistance or as causation but, rather, to reveal undocumented people’s need for support in order to organize given the extent of their embedded vulnerability and vulnerability to state power. To organize and fund the initial action, the 1,000 masks project, Here to Support facilitated start-up grants from social organizations and from the municipality of Amsterdam.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 406.18 |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek |
Keywords
- asylum seeker
- COVID-19
- everyday resistance
- freedom of expression
- human rights
- migrant organizing
- performative citizenship
- resistance
- undocumented
- vulnerability
