Abstract

This paper examines the struggle for dwelling during the forced stops imposed on people illegalised by the European border regime. It focuses on the individual and collective practices enacted to inhabit the waiting time needed to cross the French-Italian border in Ventimiglia. Although the demand for mobility is a predominant factor, these people’s homemaking needs become crucial due to the difficulties in crossing the border. They find themselves in the paradox of living in a borderland they want to leave behind. We therefore analyse the concept of dwelling as an active practice aimed at accumulating the material and symbolic capital necessary for continuing the journey. Moreover, we investigate how public spaces have been shaped to manage and deny migrants’ dwelling behaviours, and how people on the move, as well as supportive groups, challenge discriminatory urban geographies and struggle for self-determination