Invisible Costs of Visibility: Migrants’ Emotional Attachments to IDs in Spain

• In Event: Global and Transnational Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 6. Migration Experiences I

Abstract

This article contributes to migration and the sociology of emotions scholarship. Drawing on twenty-three interviews with migrants in Barcelona, we analyse the emotional relationships migrants develop with identity documents (IDs) like passports and visas. These documents become emotionally charged and mediates migrants' experiences of visibility to the state. While prior research has examined the bureaucratic and legal aspects of IDs, this article fills a gap by exploring the affective and emotional dimensions of migrant-document relationships. In this regard, we introduce the concept of "invisible costs" to capture the often-overlooked affective and emotional dimensions of identification that emerge through the process of becoming visible to the state. By moving beyond a bureaucratic and legal reading of IDs, we examine how they embody both negative (anger, anxiety, fear) and positive (e.g., hope, satisfaction, happiness) emotions and affects.

Authors

• Gülce Safak Özdemir, Harvard University

• Luisa Faustini Torres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

• Sevda Tunaboylu, Universitat de Barcelona