A1 Journal article (refereed)
Memorializing mass deaths at the border : two cases from Canberra (Australia) and Lampedusa (Italy) (2019)

Horsti, K., & Neumann, K. (2019). Memorializing mass deaths at the border : two cases from Canberra (Australia) and Lampedusa (Italy). Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(2), 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1394477

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Horsti, Karina; Neumann, Klaus

Journal or series: Ethnic and Racial Studies

ISSN: 0141-9870

eISSN: 1466-4356

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 42

Issue number: 2

Pages range: 141-158

Publisher: Routledge

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1394477

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/60623

Abstract

In this paper, we compare two seemingly very similar instances in which individuals and organizations within the borders of the global North have memorialized the deaths of irregular migrants at sea: the SIEV X memorial in Australia’s national capital Canberra, and the Giardino della memoria (Garden of Remembrance) on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Unlike ephemeral manifestations of grief, potentially these memorials have effects that reach well beyond their creation. We relate the differences between the memorials to the contexts within which they were created: an immediate local response involving people directly affected by the disaster’s aftermath, on the one hand, and a delayed nation-wide response involving people removed from the deaths at sea, on the other. We also discuss the difference between a memorial that names and thereby individualizes victims, and one that does not, and between one that celebrates an alternative, hospitable society, and one that does not.

Keywords: immigration; refugeedom; refugees; boundaries; death; remembrance; memorial stones

Free keywords: borders; migration; border-related deaths; memorials; memorialization

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 3