New publication: The affective registers of migration information campaigns: emotional violence and responses from Senegalese youth
European states fund Migration Information Campaigns (MICs) to curb irregular migration from West Africa. MICs mobilise emotions to influence decision-making and govern people’s mobility.
his research aims to deepen our understanding of MICs as affective spaces. Rather than merely examining the affective discourses they employ, which are the focus of existing literature on MICs, I also explore the emotional reactions exhibited by their recipients. The article is based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Senegal with young people who participated in MICs. It discusses how the campaigns impose emotional violence upon them and construct potential migrants as the “unwanted Other”, and it explores how, through emotive communication, Senegalese young people articulate protest and perceptions of social justice. The youth targeted by these campaigns convey emotionally charged messages that underscore the inadequacies of campaign initiatives and advocate for the need to address the structural conditions constraining their lives in Senegal.
Article details: Schenetti, C. (2025). The affective registers of migration information campaigns: emotional violence and responses from Senegalese youth. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2025.2532714.