In the Margins: The Moral Landscapes of Migrant Reception

This chapter considers migratory trajectories and proposes a typology of reception and accommodation centres. This chapter delves into the spatial dimensions of migration governance, exploring terms like “immobilisation,” “remoteness”, and “dispersal” that shape the spatial grammar of migration governance. This grammar spans a spectrum from centrality to remoteness, accessibility to seclusion, visibility to invisibility, concentration to dispersal, and inside (domestic space) to outside (public space). The author conducts an in-depth examination of accommodation centres in Sicily and Malta, illustrating how these sites encapsulate these spatial dynamics. These centres, where migration journeys are interrupted, also serve as “moralscapes” where staff construct notions of legitimate and deserving migrant women while defining racial and gender boundaries. Drawing from the experiences of women, the chapter exemplifies the complexities faced by women stranded at the border. The analysis further unveils a political geography of bodies, focusing on key themes such as women’s mobility as a source of concern, the politics of intimacy, the micropolitics of internet use