A Scientific Initiative on/for Border Abolitionism
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Node 55 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
France
Nodes:
Mayotte
Start date:
05/2026
End date:
05/2026
Researchers:
R. Ghaffari, F. Rahola, L. Queirolo Palmas, L. Stagi, and G. Stoica,
With the participation of: L. Selimovic (University of Nice), J. Gonzalez Morandi (film – maker).
Title:
Filming Daily Life in Mayotte
Abstract:
Seven university students from diverse backgrounds and fields of study participated in research and film ethnography activities, writing and performing two screenplays on the themes of travel and its complications: the first depicts two undocumented university students grappling with the end of their studies and institutional discrimination; the second portrays France through a love story, the weight of family ties, loneliness, and metropolitan rejection.
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Nodes 30 / 31 / 32 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
Italy, Greece
Nodes:
Lampedusa, Samos and Kos
Start date:
05/2025
End date:
09/2025
Researchers:
E. Fravega, R. Ghaffari, L. Korukmez and L. Queirolo Palmas
With the participation of: S. Potot (University of Nice), L. Giliberti (University of Parma) and Efrosini Plexousaki (Aegean University)
Title:
Sea Battlegrounds for Solidarity
Abstract:
This caravan will explore, through participatory methodology and volunteering, how states act in two key areas of border enforcement and transgression: the central Mediterranean route and the corridor between Greece and Turkey. Lampedusa, Samos, and Kos will be considered as the main nodes and backstage areas of both solidarity and state-driven hostility.
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Node 18 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
Greece
Nodes:
Lesvos
Start date:
10/2024
End date:
12/2024
Researchers:
R. Ghaffari, E. Zampa (photographer)
Title:
Solidarity and Self-Care Among Migrant Women in Greece
Abstract:
The report, "Ain't I a Woman? Iranian and Afghan Women's Underground Solidarity Networks and Practices in Lesvos", authored by Rassa Ghaffari, examines the experiences, challenges, and strategies of Iranian and Afghan women navigating unauthorized migration to Europe through Lesvos, Greece. Conducted between October and December 2024, the research employs a feminist and postcolonial lens to explore gendered dimensions of migration, focusing on self-organization, solidarity networks, and the intersectionality of oppression faced by women on the move.
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Node 21 - Experimental

Ended

Location:
Libya - Tripoli
Start date:
10/2024
End date:
12/2024
Researchers:
P. Cuttitta
Title:
Informal (micro-)solidarity in Libya
Abstract:
The research explores expressions of informal (micro-)solidarity among and towards people on the move in Libya (from mutual help within migrant groups to unexpected gestures from external actors) and asks how these acts may positively impact on migrants’ route-making.
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Node 49 - Antenna

Ended

Location:
Tunisia - Chebba
Start date:
10/2024
End date:
11/2025
Researchers:
N. Chaouch & F. Torre
Title:
Maritime Solidarities from Below? Framing the Nexus between Fishing and Crossing in the Mahdia region (Tunisia)
Abstract:
An ethnographic study of how fishermen and youth in coastal Tunisia navigate and reshape migration infrastructures under EU border externalisation, generating new forms of solidarity, smuggling economies, and self-organised maritime crossings.
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Node 29 - Antenna

Ended

Location:
Morocco
Start date:
09/2024
End date:
02/2025
Researchers:
M. Lovato
Title:
Beyond absence: An ethnography of border violence struggles in Morocco.
Abstract:
This report presents the findings of the third research node of the Morocco Antenna of the SOLROUTES project, conducted between September 2024 and February 2025. The study examines how disappearances and deaths at borders generate support relationships and forms of collective mobilization in Morocco through an ethnographic approach.
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Node 39 - Antenna

Ended

Location:
Turkey - Van
Start date:
08/2025
End date:
09/2025
Researchers:
L. Körükmez
Title:
Dengbêjs: Collective Storytelling Across Borders
Abstract:
Dengbêjî is a traditional Kurdish form of oral storytelling. Dengbêjs perform long, melodic narratives—often without instrumental accompaniment—that recount historical events, love stories, social struggles, migration experiences, and collective memories. This tradition plays an important role in preserving and transmitting communal history and cultural memory across generations.
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Node 37 - Antenna

Ended

Location:
Belgium - Hesbaye
Start date:
02/2025
End date:
05/2025
Researchers:
I. Oubad
Title:
Waremme and Hesbaye: Emergency Shelters, Civic Housing, and Precarious Dwelling
Abstract:
This fieldwork focuses on research conducted in the Waremme and Hesbaye region of Belgium between February and May 2025.
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Node 20 - Experimental

Ended

Location:
Albania - Tirana
Start date:
10/2024
End date:
12/2024
Researchers:
D. Jano
Title:
Beyond Irregular Pathways: Cultural Frameworks, Solidarity Networks, and Agency in Albanian Migration to the UK
Abstract:
This node report examines Albanian irregular migration to the United Kingdom through a socio-cultural lens, challenging dominant narratives that frame irregular migration primarily within narratives of criminality and trafficking.
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Nodes 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania
Nodes:
El Hierro, Mbera, Mbour, Kafountine, Banjul, Cap Skirring
Start date:
10/2024
End date:
03/2025
Researchers:
L. Queirolo Palmas (researcher), F. Rahola (researcher), J. Gonzalez Morandi (film – maker), G. Kouagang (associated cultural mediator – La Comunità), V. Pellegrino (associated researcher - University of Parma), Ornella Brauci (associated researcher - El Taller)
Title:
Migrations, Solidarities and Routes (Un)Making in the Atlantic Sahara (2&3 Station)
Abstract:
This Caravan further explores and deepens the findings of the previous one by focusing on the implications of the artisanal fishing crisis for coastal communities and migration places of departure in several West African countries. It highlights the religious and familial dimensions that foster solidarity around undocumented migration. Additionally, this Caravan investigates the forms of institutional solidarity and living conditions in refugee camps on both sides of the Atlantic route—specifically in the Canary Islands (European side) and Mauritania (African side).
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Node 19 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
Tunisia, Libya
Nodes:
Tunisia-Libyan border
Start date:
09/2024
End date:
02/2025
Researchers:
F. Torre, L. Queirolo Palmas, Commissioned Artists: The Routes Journal
Title:
Solidarity against pushbacks across Tunisia, Libya, Algeria
Abstract:
Since starting fieldwork in the Maghreb, we have encountered many people on the move who are victims of pushbacks from Tunisia to Libya and Algeria, and from Algeria to Niger. These movements highlight severe human rights violations by state authorities and generate new itineraries and shelters, resisting forced mobility. Our research aims to document the effectiveness of pushback operations and understand how solidarity among people on the move creates routes of resistance against deportations, contributing to unauthorized mobility.
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Node 48 - Caravan

Ended

Countries:
Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nodes:
Turin, Padua, Bihac, Lipa, Trieste
Start date:
07/2024
End date:
07/2024
Researchers:
Enrico Fravega, Valeria Garrè, Andrea Ferraris (illustrator)
Title:
Balkans Caravan 2024: Witnessing Europe’s Hidden Border Realities
Abstract:
As a border abolitionist research project, SOLROUTES places a strong emphasis on solidarity along migration routes in what is referred to as “EUrope at large”. SolRoutes’ participation in the Balkans Caravan 2024 is a critical component of the ethnographic fieldwork activities conducted in the Balkans area.
About this NODE
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sociologia-visuale

Grant ERC AdG 101053836 - Funded by the European Union (ERC, SOLROUTES, 101053836). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them - This site uses technical cookies to offer you a better browsing experience - solroutes@unige.it

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