Migrant agency and embodiment in space – commentary to van Liempt

Abstract

In this reflection, I use van Liempt's analysis of emplacement as a helpful instigation to challenge and nuance three current theoretical debates in migration studies and geography. Focusing on the spaces of embodied migrant agency I counter the legacy of static concepts such as ‘immigrant integration’, refine ideas about the city and public space, and explore the contemporary politics of refusal. In each of these conversations, bringing in ideas of the spatial agency of migrants helps us to contest received ideas and categories and open up new ways of thinking about scale, society, public space, and refusal.