Chiara Milan and Chiara Martini, 'Bringing care in. The meaning of care in refugee solidarity movements', forthcoming, Journal of Refugee Studies
Abstract:
This article investigates the meaning that refugee solidarity activists supporting people on the move across the Western Balkans migratory route and at the Italian-French border attribute to the notion of “care”, which they use to define their solidarity practices, particularly in the aftermath of the global pandemic. By means of a content analysis of in-depth interviews with representatives of grassroots solidarity groups, the article demonstrates that “care” is conceived of as having a political character, as it responds to both the crisis of health care and to the restrictions on freedom of movement; a non-hierarchical connotation, which informs in- and out-group relationships, and a transformative orientation, as acts of care prefigure a society in which freedom of movement and health rights are granted to all, in contrast to the existing model of migration governance.
