Migration Policies and Uncertainty
Prayer as (Un)Political Activism among African Pentecostals in Switzerland
In: African DiasporaSearch for other papers by Jeanne Rey in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This article addresses the role of migrant congregations as civil society players through the practice of prayer. By combining the notion of political activism and the theory of subjectivation, it offers a new perspective on Pentecostal practice and migrant congregations in Europe as a way of addressing uncertainty linked to migration policies and mobility regimes. In Switzerland, where conditions for migrants have become increasingly restrictive, political and social forms of exclusion are challenged by African Pentecostal migrants who engage in prayer that contests restrictions on mobility, assignation to subaltern positions, as well as other forms of discrimination. Yet, this ritual resistance rarely takes the form of a political action; neither does it formulate concrete claims towards immigration procedures and policies. Rather, it is expressed through prayer in the protective space of a religious community, allowing the migrants to reassess subjectivations and to imagine new subjectivities.
Résumé
Cet article examine la dimension politique de la pratique de la prière dans le cadre de communautés pentecôtistes de migrants africains en Suisse. Il offre une nouvelle perspective sur les Églises issues de la migration en Europe en associant la notion d’ activisme politique à la théorie de la subjectivation. En Suisse, des formes d’ exclusion politique et sociale sont critiquées par des migrants africains par le biais de la prière thématisant les restrictions de leur mobilité, leur assignation aux positions subalternes, ainsi que d’ autres formes de discrimination. Toutefois, cette forme de résistance ne prend que rarement la forme d’ une action politique. Elle ne formule pas non plus de revendications concrètes envers les procédures administratives et politiques migratoires. Elle s’ exprime par la pratique de la prière, dans l’ espace protégé de la communauté religieuse, où les migrants peuvent évaluer les dispositifs d’ assignation identitaire et imaginer de nouvelles subjectivités.
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| Abstract Views | 370 | 54 | 7 |
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Migration Policies and Uncertainty
Prayer as (Un)Political Activism among African Pentecostals in Switzerland
In: African DiasporaSearch for other papers by Jeanne Rey in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article addresses the role of migrant congregations as civil society players through the practice of prayer. By combining the notion of political activism and the theory of subjectivation, it offers a new perspective on Pentecostal practice and migrant congregations in Europe as a way of addressing uncertainty linked to migration policies and mobility regimes. In Switzerland, where conditions for migrants have become increasingly restrictive, political and social forms of exclusion are challenged by African Pentecostal migrants who engage in prayer that contests restrictions on mobility, assignation to subaltern positions, as well as other forms of discrimination. Yet, this ritual resistance rarely takes the form of a political action; neither does it formulate concrete claims towards immigration procedures and policies. Rather, it is expressed through prayer in the protective space of a religious community, allowing the migrants to reassess subjectivations and to imagine new subjectivities.
Résumé
Cet article examine la dimension politique de la pratique de la prière dans le cadre de communautés pentecôtistes de migrants africains en Suisse. Il offre une nouvelle perspective sur les Églises issues de la migration en Europe en associant la notion d’ activisme politique à la théorie de la subjectivation. En Suisse, des formes d’ exclusion politique et sociale sont critiquées par des migrants africains par le biais de la prière thématisant les restrictions de leur mobilité, leur assignation aux positions subalternes, ainsi que d’ autres formes de discrimination. Toutefois, cette forme de résistance ne prend que rarement la forme d’ une action politique. Elle ne formule pas non plus de revendications concrètes envers les procédures administratives et politiques migratoires. Elle s’ exprime par la pratique de la prière, dans l’ espace protégé de la communauté religieuse, où les migrants peuvent évaluer les dispositifs d’ assignation identitaire et imaginer de nouvelles subjectivités.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 370 | 54 | 7 |
| Full Text Views | 147 | 12 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 54 | 11 | 0 |