Papers by Gustavo Dias
Contemporânea- Revista de Sociologia da UFSCar, 2023
Bourdieu & Sayad: the forging of a sociology on the colonial order in times of war Bourdieu & Say... more Bourdieu & Sayad: the forging of a sociology on the colonial order in times of war Bourdieu & Sayad: la forja de una sociología sobre el orden colonial en tiempos de guerra
Tempo Social, 2022
Abdelmalek Sayad. Femmes em rupture de ban: entretiens inédits avec deux Algériennes. Paris, Rais... more Abdelmalek Sayad. Femmes em rupture de ban: entretiens inédits avec deux Algériennes. Paris, Raisons d'Agir, 2021, 214 pp
Sociedade e Cultura, 2018
O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrentedas pesquisas nas ciências sociais. Toda... more O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrentedas pesquisas nas ciências sociais. Todavia, ressaltamos anecessidade de aprofundarmos o debate acerca do métodode pesquisa utilizado. Em outras palavras, argumentamos que, tão importante quanto revelar os dados obtidos no trabalho de campo, é a apresentação das ferramentas metodológicas utilizadas, bem como seu poder de apreensão do fenômeno investigado e suas limitações. Neste contexto, e a partir do aumento significativo dos deslocamentos humanos em todas as suas expressões (emigração, imigração, refúgio, retorno, trânsito, tráfico e contrabando de pessoas, etc.), o artigo oferece um breve panorama histórico sobre abordagensteórico-metodológicas utilizadas em estudos sobre mobilidademigratória. Notadamente, refletimos sobre algumas dasprincipais estratégias que se fizeram presentes no campo daantropologia e da sociologia, desde a primeira metade doséculo XX até a contemporaneidade.
Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População, 2020
Sociologias, 2020
Esta edição da revista Sociologias reflete, criticamente, sobre a produção da "ilegalidade migran... more Esta edição da revista Sociologias reflete, criticamente, sobre a produção da "ilegalidade migrante" em contextos fronteiriços latino-americanos e caribenhos. Para tal, ela conta com artigos que examinam a produção de ilegalidade através de distintos regimes de fronteira da região. São textos que trazem, através de distintas realidades empíricas analisadas, contribuições conceituais e empíricas para a sociologia pensar como a multiplicação de fronteiras no mundo contemporâneo ganha forma na América Latina e no Caribe. Embora esta seja uma discussão que tem recebido pouca atenção até o momento, a região oferece, como mostra este dossiê, uma importante heterogeneidade de experiências de "ilegalização" da população migrante, ligada às diferentes transformações ocorridas na região. Nessa direção, o dossiê foca, particularmente, em alguns espaços sociais ou áreas fronteiriças de interesse para organizar a proposta: a fronteira sul do México, região estratégica para o governo estadunidense controlar a entrada de centro-americanos em seu território nacional, a qual, atualmente, tem ganhado as manchetes em razão das caravanas de imigrantes; a conflituosa área fronteiriça entre o Haiti e a República Dominicana, onde o estado dominicano, por meio de dispositivos legais, promove a ilegalidade de migrantes; o papel do Equador, enquanto um centro articulador de trabalhadores indocumentados para os Estados Unidos; e, por fim, o processo de criminalização na fronteira norte do Chile, região caracterizada pela alta circulação de migrantes latino-americanos e caribenhos.
Sociologias, 2020
This article deals with the production of migration control regimes and the proliferation of bord... more This article deals with the production of migration control regimes and the proliferation of borders in Latin America and the Caribbean, within the framework of the recent contemporary processes of regionalization and internationalization of migration policies and the externalization of borders. Specifically, it explores the reconfigurations that both migration and border control policies and practices have experienced over the past two decades in specific socio-historical contexts. Inspired by critical studies on migration and borders, and based on a multi-sited and processual perspective, the article focuses on some border conflicts that are relevant to understand mutations that condense broader or more comprehensive processes in the Latin American and Caribbean border control regimes. Firstly, the article addresses the relationship between border control and "irregular migration", seeking to analyse the emergence of migratory "crises" in the region. Secondly, it unfolds some components of the South American border regime, identifying contested control policies and practices on migrant movements. Finally, it recognizes some characteristic aspects of the North American and Central American border regime, while it problematizes the conformation of Mexico as a "vertical border" and the emergence of new forms of migration in a context of generalized violence.
Revista Sociedade e Cultura, 2017
O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrente das pesquisas nas ciências sociais. Tod... more O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrente das pesquisas nas ciências sociais. Todavia, ressaltamos a necessidade de aprofundarmos o debate acerca do método de pesquisa utilizado. Em outras palavras, argumentamos que, tão importante quanto revelar os dados obtidos no trabalho de campo, é a apresentação das ferramentas metodológicas utilizadas, bem como seu poder de apreensão do fenômeno investigado e suas limitações. Neste contexto, e a partir do aumento significativo dos deslocamentos humanos em todas as suas expressões (emigração, imigração, refúgio, retorno, trânsito, tráfico e contrabando de pessoas, etc.), o artigo oferece um breve panorama histórico sobre abordagens teórico-metodológicas utilizadas em estudos sobre mobilidade migratória. Notadamente, refletimos sobre algumas das principais estratégias que se fizeram presentes no campo da antropologia e da sociologia, desde a primeira metade do século XX até a contemporaneidade. Palavras-chave: Mobilidade migratória, metodologias, estudos migratórios, sociologia, antropologia. Introdução Ao nos ater à produção científica atual no campo dos estudos migratórios que vem sendo desenvolvida no Brasil, o que nos chama a atenção é a falta de uma discussão mais aprofundada sobre as perspectivas metodológicas. Como pesquisadores, sentimos que, por exemplo, a chamada de dossiês, GTs e mesas-redondas em eventos acadêmicos têm trabalhado com recortes amplos em demasiado. Claro, são produções que buscam Resumo
This short photo-essay explores the popular rat trails which informally coexist with the linear f... more This short photo-essay explores the popular rat trails which informally coexist with the linear footpaths in Brasilia. Planned by the urban planner Lúcio Costa and the architect Oscar Niemeyer, Brasilia was inaugurated to be a modern capital in 1960. Soon it became world renowned by its bold drawing. Inspired by Le Corbusier, Costa designed Brasilia with minimalist geometric lines able to promote a rapid urban mobility and contrast with the sensual curved buildings projected by Niemeyer. As a result, long wide avenues – known as the “Axes” – guided by geographical coordinates strategically connect distant urban spaces in the city. However, as the inhabitants comment, Brasilia is notorious for its anti-pedestrian layout. A place made for cars. Wandering through the footpaths, we can experience how they are fragmented, longer than necessary and, in most of the cases, dependent on the rational automotive geography which orchestrates the mobility of people, information and goods. Alternatively to these hardened pathways, over the years pedestrians have created unconventional trails across the green city blocks. The effect is a myriad of sinuous lines drawn by footprints. Known as rat trails, these temporary trails come and go depending on the need of those who experience Brasilia by walking.
Conference Presentations by Gustavo Dias
Em 2018, completamos 20 anos sem Abdelmalek Sayad (1933-1998). Sociólogo de origem argelina e rep... more Em 2018, completamos 20 anos sem Abdelmalek Sayad (1933-1998). Sociólogo de origem argelina e reputação internacional, Sayad deixou importante contribuição para os estudos migratórios. Com Sayad, a migração já não é compreendida através de numa perspectiva macro ou micro. Ele propôs superar tais dimensões e pensar tal fenômeno social em sua totalidade. Não à toa, a migração ganha, para ele, as propícias condições para ser interpretada enquanto um fato social completo. Um fenômeno, em sua totalidade, que não pode ser esgotado em um único campo de estudo. Suas diversas facetas possibilitam o diálogo entre as mais diversas áreas (Geografia, Economia, Linguística, Política, Direito, Antropologia, História, Estatística, Psicologia, entre outras). Nesse quadro interdisciplinar em que o fenômeno migratório está situado, Sayad aprofundou conceitos e lançou novas perspectivas.
20 anos depois, em três dias de debates, conferências, grupos de trabalho e intenso diálogo entre especialistas nacionais e internacionais em estudos migratórios e nos trabalhos de Sayad, o evento pretende refletir sobre as seguintes perguntas: Qual a contemporaneidade do pensamento de Sayad para os estudos migratórios em desenvolvimento? Como seus conceitos, categorias de análise e métodos de pesquisa têm contribuído para o avanço dos estudos migratórios na atualidade?
O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrente das pesquisas nas ciências sociais. A p... more O fenômeno migratório tem sido uma preocupação recorrente das pesquisas nas ciências sociais. A partir do aumento significativo dos deslocamentos humanos em todas as suas expressões (emigração, imigração, refúgio, retorno, trânsito, tráfico e contrabando de pessoas, etc.), nos interessa conhecer as mudanças experimentadas pelas Ciências Sociais no estudo destes fenômenos em múltiplos cenários e, particularmente, no Brasil. Assim, o SPG se interessa não somente por estudos clássicos, mas considera, com especial atenção, as análises e reflexões sobre pesquisas multisituadas, também definidas como multi-localizadas ou transnacionais. A este respeito, para além dos estudos antropológicos, buscamos incluir trabalhos que assumam perspectivas multi e interdisciplinares, a partir de olhares como os da sociologia, história, ciência política e geografia, entre outros. Por outro lado, conscientes de que, apesar do uso prevalente da observação participante, a etnografia, desde os seus inícios, utiliza múltiplas técnicas e está aberta a diversos instrumentos e análise de dados, procuramos trabalhos que examinem as potencialidades e limites do uso de fontes como as entrevistas, conversas, fotografias, vídeos, documentos, registros de dados e memórias, assim como de histórias de vida e autobiografias. Finalmente, em sintonia com as mudanças propiciadas pelas novas tecnologias da informação e comunicação, estamos também abertos às análises que abordem os desafios da etnografia digital.
This panel proposes to examine diverse aspects of Latin American migration mobility to Spain, and... more This panel proposes to examine diverse aspects of Latin American migration mobility to Spain, and from this country to other European places.
"How have Brazilian migrants moved into London after the September 11? Who are the social agents ... more "How have Brazilian migrants moved into London after the September 11? Who are the social agents and what are the social conditions of movement involved in such mobility? Since 9/11 the EU have reinforced its borders and mobility control in the airports in order to stop undesirable mobile people, including undocumented migrant workers. As a consequence Brazilian migrants have created escape routes to literally escape from that mobility control (Papadopoulos et al. 2008, Frontex 2011). Considering the fact that migratory mobility is not just a matter of network involving kinship and relatives, this paper follows the argument that behind migration there is an informal industry which provides the mobility according to global politics and events (Khosravi 2010). Therefore, through an empirical study on Brazilian migration from Minas Gerais state to London, this presentation attempts to discuss how migration routes are carefully organized through package tours by travel agencies managed by pioneers, who became specialized in providing tactic of border crossing movement after the 9/11. Such tactic aims to transform the migratory mobility of those migrant workers into a more desirable type of mobility, the touristic one (Adey 2004). In other words, they have promoted a border crossing movement able to ensure the connectedness between Brazil and the UK through any small airport hubs located in the Schengen area and British territory where the surveillance, according to them, is less strict to tourists. As a result this paper argues that due to the border reinforcement adopted by the EU after the terrorist attacks (Balibar 2002, Mezzadra 2007), friends and family members abroad are not the only ones who provide support to Brazilian emigrating to London, a migratory industry composed by specialized pioneers and their travel agencies have also played important roles in such mobility (Bakewell, de Hass and Kubal 2011)"
This paper attempts to discuss how Brazilian migrants negotiate their movement through trajectori... more This paper attempts to discuss how Brazilian migrants negotiate their movement through trajectories which produces a sense of connectedness across the places and borders, tangled in their route towards London.
Talks by Gustavo Dias
The paper reflects on migration beyond the concepts of flows and networks, and surveillance mobil... more The paper reflects on migration beyond the concepts of flows and networks, and surveillance mobility. It explores these concepts not as static categories but as a continuum which extends beyond and inside geopolitical locations through a set of legal, administrative and technological procedures.
The empirical focus of the research is how Brazilians from Alto Paranaiba have journeyed through both airports located in the Schengen area and in the British territory to London, and how after becoming undocumented they have dealt with the British immigration law applied to non-European migrants, which recognizes them as foreign citizens without rights to remain and work on British territory.
As a main research orientation, I draw the theoretical framework from the concepts of mobility, borders and places as approached by scholars who reflect on the movement of people through an interwoven perspective, where places are connected in the migrant journeys not as arenas of fixed rootedness, but as flexible spaces which have also been transformed and shaped through mobility (Cresswell 2006, Massey 2005, Ingold 2011, Knowles 2010).
In addition, I use the notion of borders and surveillance discussed by contemporary literature focusing on airports and borderlands (Curry 2004, Adey 2004, Ceyhan 2008). According to this, a wide range of technological apparatus known as smart borders has been installed in airports since the events of 9/11. In fact, this has not only enabled authorities across international airports to filter mobile people with certainty and trace their mobility, but has also permitted border control agents to follow them in the internal territory where the borders are blurred in the everyday sites (Mezzadra and Balibar 2007, Boucher 2008).
In this process, I explore the idea that the journeys produced by these Brazilian migrants are tactical border crossing movements involving people, places and choices, which do not end with passing through the airport passport control in London. Rather, the struggle extends to the internal territory as they become undocumented foreign workers.
Articles by Gustavo Dias
Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 2024
This paper addresses the relations between migrants, (im)mobility, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the... more This paper addresses the relations between migrants, (im)mobility, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022). It particularly explores the extent to which his government endorsed the rise of abusive US border control policies against Brazilian immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical focus of the paper analyses how Brazilians struggled with the implementation of the US's controversial Title 42 expulsions during the Bolsonaro administration and the Coronavirus pandemic. There has been a sharp increase in deaths, arbitrary detentions, and deportations of Brazilians from the US since the Trump administration, which was aggravated by the alignment of the Brazilian government with US border control policies towards Latin America. This combined with Bolsonaro's closure of embassies, secretariats, and councils that had been dedicated to representing Brazilians abroad, had strong impacts, especially among those who migrated to escape the historical socioeconomic crisis in Brazil since 2015, intensied by COVID-19. The empirical data presented in this study comes from a digital and press archive we compiled using ofcial data provided by the Conns International Airport, the US Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, news from digital media, and a critical literature review focused on migration, mobility, and border controls. In addition to not seeking solutions for the economic and social motives driving the departure of Brazilians, the Bolsonaro government endorsed the US's antimigration agenda and cut programs to meet the needs of Brazilians abroad.
Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 2023
This paper examines how Brazilians remodeled their international migration routes to the "First W... more This paper examines how Brazilians remodeled their international migration routes to the "First World" after the September 11 attacks. It explores the connections between the temporary suspension of Brazilian migration to the United States and the rise of the United Kingdom as the main destination. To shed light on the production of new routes by Brazilians, the paper unfolds personal migration journeys performed to overcome border controls set by the UK. The empirical data at the basis of this article come from a broadly qualitative, ethnographic approach, which comprised multi-sited fieldwork in the UK and Brazil, and two sets of oral histories conducted with migrants, travel agents, and returned migrants between 2010 and 2016. Based on these sources, the article shows how migrants developed tactical border crossing movements to negotiate with institutions and structures of power that control and constrain their movements with threats.
Cadernos de Campo, 2021
Recentemente, presenciamos uma intensificação dos processos de criminalização da migração e vulne... more Recentemente, presenciamos uma intensificação dos processos de criminalização da migração e vulnerabilidade de sujeitos migrantes na América Latina. Diante da emergência de governos liberais conservadores, constata-se o recuo de políticas migratórias inclusivas, bem como a utilização de migrantes enquanto “bode expiatórios” para explicar crises sociais. Não por acaso, presenciamos venezuelanos expulsos de forma violenta, na fronteira de Roraima, pela população local enquanto entoavam o hino nacional. Assim, este dossiê reflete, criticamente, sobre o impacto de tais políticas migratórias na dimensão cotidiana desses sujeitos migrantes. Para tal, este dossiê conta com artigos – de pesquisadores oriundos de diversas universidades latino-americanas – que examinam, por meio de estudos de campo, casos de deportação, xenofobia, aporofobia e “ilegalidade” vividas em nossa região. São textos que, de forma original, trazem, através de distintas realidades empíricas analisadas, contribuições conceituais e epistemológicas para as ciências sociais pensar a vulnerabilidade migratória na América Latina.
Vibrant, 2020
This paper examines how Haitian migration connecting Haiti to Brasília is enacted through Latin A... more This paper examines how Haitian migration connecting Haiti to Brasília is enacted through Latin America. The empirical data come from an ethnographic study of Haitians in Brasilia. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 34 migrants to reconstruct their mobilities. We explore how the Haitians' historical practice of living on the move has enabled them to deal with border controls and develop tactics to circulate through several Latin America countries, including Brazil. We argue that their migration to the Brazilian capital can neither be understood as a linear movement characterized by an established Haiti-Brasilia connection nor defined as movement to a place where these migrants attempt to settle down. Rather, we show that the recent presence of Brasilia in the mobility of these Haitians has to be understood in the context of a vast dynamic meshwork of places, people and information.
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Papers by Gustavo Dias
Conference Presentations by Gustavo Dias
20 anos depois, em três dias de debates, conferências, grupos de trabalho e intenso diálogo entre especialistas nacionais e internacionais em estudos migratórios e nos trabalhos de Sayad, o evento pretende refletir sobre as seguintes perguntas: Qual a contemporaneidade do pensamento de Sayad para os estudos migratórios em desenvolvimento? Como seus conceitos, categorias de análise e métodos de pesquisa têm contribuído para o avanço dos estudos migratórios na atualidade?
Talks by Gustavo Dias
The empirical focus of the research is how Brazilians from Alto Paranaiba have journeyed through both airports located in the Schengen area and in the British territory to London, and how after becoming undocumented they have dealt with the British immigration law applied to non-European migrants, which recognizes them as foreign citizens without rights to remain and work on British territory.
As a main research orientation, I draw the theoretical framework from the concepts of mobility, borders and places as approached by scholars who reflect on the movement of people through an interwoven perspective, where places are connected in the migrant journeys not as arenas of fixed rootedness, but as flexible spaces which have also been transformed and shaped through mobility (Cresswell 2006, Massey 2005, Ingold 2011, Knowles 2010).
In addition, I use the notion of borders and surveillance discussed by contemporary literature focusing on airports and borderlands (Curry 2004, Adey 2004, Ceyhan 2008). According to this, a wide range of technological apparatus known as smart borders has been installed in airports since the events of 9/11. In fact, this has not only enabled authorities across international airports to filter mobile people with certainty and trace their mobility, but has also permitted border control agents to follow them in the internal territory where the borders are blurred in the everyday sites (Mezzadra and Balibar 2007, Boucher 2008).
In this process, I explore the idea that the journeys produced by these Brazilian migrants are tactical border crossing movements involving people, places and choices, which do not end with passing through the airport passport control in London. Rather, the struggle extends to the internal territory as they become undocumented foreign workers.
Articles by Gustavo Dias
20 anos depois, em três dias de debates, conferências, grupos de trabalho e intenso diálogo entre especialistas nacionais e internacionais em estudos migratórios e nos trabalhos de Sayad, o evento pretende refletir sobre as seguintes perguntas: Qual a contemporaneidade do pensamento de Sayad para os estudos migratórios em desenvolvimento? Como seus conceitos, categorias de análise e métodos de pesquisa têm contribuído para o avanço dos estudos migratórios na atualidade?
The empirical focus of the research is how Brazilians from Alto Paranaiba have journeyed through both airports located in the Schengen area and in the British territory to London, and how after becoming undocumented they have dealt with the British immigration law applied to non-European migrants, which recognizes them as foreign citizens without rights to remain and work on British territory.
As a main research orientation, I draw the theoretical framework from the concepts of mobility, borders and places as approached by scholars who reflect on the movement of people through an interwoven perspective, where places are connected in the migrant journeys not as arenas of fixed rootedness, but as flexible spaces which have also been transformed and shaped through mobility (Cresswell 2006, Massey 2005, Ingold 2011, Knowles 2010).
In addition, I use the notion of borders and surveillance discussed by contemporary literature focusing on airports and borderlands (Curry 2004, Adey 2004, Ceyhan 2008). According to this, a wide range of technological apparatus known as smart borders has been installed in airports since the events of 9/11. In fact, this has not only enabled authorities across international airports to filter mobile people with certainty and trace their mobility, but has also permitted border control agents to follow them in the internal territory where the borders are blurred in the everyday sites (Mezzadra and Balibar 2007, Boucher 2008).
In this process, I explore the idea that the journeys produced by these Brazilian migrants are tactical border crossing movements involving people, places and choices, which do not end with passing through the airport passport control in London. Rather, the struggle extends to the internal territory as they become undocumented foreign workers.
The Brazilians Abroad Study Group (Brazilian Migration to the UK Research Group, GEB) conducted the research reported here to add to this expanding body of work and to contribute to a better understanding of experiences of Brazilians living and working in London. The study by the GEB constitutes one of the very few quantitative studies about Brazilians ever carried out in London and, although its results cannot be said to be representative of the whole Brazilian community in the UK, they are indicative of the experiences of many Brazilians residing in London."
conceived of as a unidirectional, purposeful and intentional
process from one state of fixity (in the place of origin) to another (in the destination). By mapping the trajectories of Brazilians who currently reside in Belgium or the UK, this article draws attention to a group of people whose mobile practices do not fit this definition. On the contrary, their experiences are marked by an ongoing mobility that consists of a multiplicity of potential routes, which are often unstable and which may be accompanied by changes in status. These Brazilians tend to ‘live in mobility’ in order to improve the quality of life at home. As such, leaving home becomes a strategy of staying home, which challenges what is usually evoked by the concept of ‘migration’, whereby ‘building up a new life elsewhere’ and ‘integration’ are seen as key. Whereas our respondents themselves have a more circular or mobile perspective, the receiving society discursively frames migration as one-way, and thus as a ‘threat’ that calls for social integration, control and the maintenance of national identity.
O livro propõe-se a analisar, criticamente, as contribuições teóricas e metodológicas de Sayad para a compreensão das migrações. Consiste em uma importante obra para o campo das migrações, dividida em cinco partes, que contam com textos de pesquisadores que têm desenvolvido trabalhos à luz do pensamento de Abdelmalek Sayad em diversos centros de pesquisa localizados no Sul e Norte Global.