'We didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us,’ say Chicanx activists, referring to the US-Mexican border established in 1848. This border cut through indigenous and mestizo lands, turning Mexicans into foreigners in their own ancestral homelands or forcing them to migrate. This powerful message finds its counterpart in the migrant rights chant We are here because you were there, which underscores the deep connections between colonial history and contemporary global migration. At the core of these slogans is a demand for migrant and refugee justice that transcends mere humanitarianism. The emphasis is rather on the need to reckon with the historical and ongoing injustices of colonialism, racial oppression, and capitalist exploitation in order to craft a future where everyone can lead fulfilling lives.
This spirit drove the Debordering Futures Conference, which took place at the University of Cambridge between 15-17 May 2024. Organised by scholars with their own personal histories of migration, the conference aimed to rethink borders and migration by exploring their links to colonial histories and their inherited racial hierarchies, as well as the poetic and creative resources that communities draw from to survive, resist and thrive. We sought to challenge the dominant narratives that portray migrants as helpless victims and instead highlight their freedom dreams and world-building struggles. By bringing together academics, poets, and activists/ practitioners, we sought to work against entrenched knowledge hierarchies and foster a space for reflecting on interconnected histories and envisioning shared futures. This desire to challenge conventional academic protocols and foster transdisciplinary dialogues is precisely what inspired our partnership with the other side of hope literary magazine, which provided us a platform for showcasing the conference’s creative output.
Our commentary in the next pages reflects on the various talks delivered during the conference, complemented by visual representations of these discussions. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the Judith E. Wilson Fund at the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, for their invaluable support for this project.
Our commentary in the next pages reflects on the various talks delivered during the conference, complemented by visual representations of these discussions. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the Judith E. Wilson Fund at the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, for their invaluable support for this project.
about the organisers:
Danai Avgeri is a political geographer and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Her research delves into borders, mobility, security, racial capitalism, and the humanitarian-development nexus. In her current project, she explores how Europe’s racialized borders are maintained through containment infrastructure, classification regimes, and destitution economies, particularly in the context of austerity and migrant (im)mobility in crisis-hit Greece.
Dita N. Love is an interdisciplinary social scientist and education researcher at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Her work spans youth education, creative arts, and abolitionist social justice. Dita’s research focuses on trauma- sensitive creative and critical digital methods. Her ESRC-funded project explored youth development and educational justice in collaboration with Young Identity. Dita is also an emerging European poet, with publications in several prestigious journals.
Beja Protner is a sociocultural anthropologist with interest in displacement/ emplacement, temporalities, memory, subjectivity, affect, emotions, revolutionary movements, and political exile. She has worked with the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) in London (2018) and Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) in Greece (2020-21), and participated together with Kurdish and left-wing exiles from Turkey in the struggles against border violence as an activist in Athens.
Awa Farah is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Cambridge, focusing on the migration and mobility of Black Muslim diaspora groups in the UK. An award-winning filmmaker, she wrote and produced BFI Doc Society’s short film Somalinimo, published by The Guardian in 2020. In 2021 she worked on the film, A Life in a Day, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, she worked on the Bafta award winning BBC documentary The real Mo Farah. She is also the founder of Siman Foundation, an NGO that democratises access to education.
Danai Avgeri is a political geographer and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Her research delves into borders, mobility, security, racial capitalism, and the humanitarian-development nexus. In her current project, she explores how Europe’s racialized borders are maintained through containment infrastructure, classification regimes, and destitution economies, particularly in the context of austerity and migrant (im)mobility in crisis-hit Greece.
Dita N. Love is an interdisciplinary social scientist and education researcher at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Her work spans youth education, creative arts, and abolitionist social justice. Dita’s research focuses on trauma- sensitive creative and critical digital methods. Her ESRC-funded project explored youth development and educational justice in collaboration with Young Identity. Dita is also an emerging European poet, with publications in several prestigious journals.
Beja Protner is a sociocultural anthropologist with interest in displacement/ emplacement, temporalities, memory, subjectivity, affect, emotions, revolutionary movements, and political exile. She has worked with the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) in London (2018) and Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) in Greece (2020-21), and participated together with Kurdish and left-wing exiles from Turkey in the struggles against border violence as an activist in Athens.
Awa Farah is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Cambridge, focusing on the migration and mobility of Black Muslim diaspora groups in the UK. An award-winning filmmaker, she wrote and produced BFI Doc Society’s short film Somalinimo, published by The Guardian in 2020. In 2021 she worked on the film, A Life in a Day, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, she worked on the Bafta award winning BBC documentary The real Mo Farah. She is also the founder of Siman Foundation, an NGO that democratises access to education.
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