La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial

In the town of Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), on the French side of the French-Italian border, the border police (PAF) controls for those who have crossed the border illegally by operating on a discretionary basis. Mobile police practices include tracking down racialised people across the mountains. These...

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Main Author: Sarah Bachellerie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2020-10-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/7208
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author Sarah Bachellerie
author_facet Sarah Bachellerie
author_sort Sarah Bachellerie
collection DOAJ
description In the town of Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), on the French side of the French-Italian border, the border police (PAF) controls for those who have crossed the border illegally by operating on a discretionary basis. Mobile police practices include tracking down racialised people across the mountains. These practices expose illegal migrants to dangers inherent in the high-mountain environment and are part of a continuum of police and administrative violence committed against them. Migration control in the Briançon area demonstrates how the mountains can be integrated into power strategies that reinforce the dominance of certain social groups. It also shows that borders today, which facilitate the mobility of “legitimate” foreign populations and hinder that of “undesirable” foreign populations, function by identifying individuals and differentiating them on the basis of race and class. The persistence of “police hunts for illegal humans” (Chamayou, 2010) as a control technology helps us, on the whole, to understand how migration control on France’s borders forms part of a “colonial present” (Gregory, 2004).
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spelling doaj-art-b38c0918223847b88c5e57ff26a5b62e2025-01-10T15:54:18ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262020-10-01108210.4000/rga.7208La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racialSarah BachellerieIn the town of Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), on the French side of the French-Italian border, the border police (PAF) controls for those who have crossed the border illegally by operating on a discretionary basis. Mobile police practices include tracking down racialised people across the mountains. These practices expose illegal migrants to dangers inherent in the high-mountain environment and are part of a continuum of police and administrative violence committed against them. Migration control in the Briançon area demonstrates how the mountains can be integrated into power strategies that reinforce the dominance of certain social groups. It also shows that borders today, which facilitate the mobility of “legitimate” foreign populations and hinder that of “undesirable” foreign populations, function by identifying individuals and differentiating them on the basis of race and class. The persistence of “police hunts for illegal humans” (Chamayou, 2010) as a control technology helps us, on the whole, to understand how migration control on France’s borders forms part of a “colonial present” (Gregory, 2004).https://journals.openedition.org/rga/7208mountainsborder controlborder policeracial discriminationpolice violence
spellingShingle Sarah Bachellerie
La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
Revue de Géographie Alpine
mountains
border control
border police
racial discrimination
police violence
title La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
title_full La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
title_fullStr La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
title_full_unstemmed La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
title_short La traque policière des étranger·es à la frontière franco-italienne (Hautes-Alpes) comme « maintien de l’ordre » social et racial
title_sort la traque policiere des etranger·es a la frontiere franco italienne hautes alpes comme maintien de l ordre social et racial
topic mountains
border control
border police
racial discrimination
police violence
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/7208
work_keys_str_mv AT sarahbachellerie latraquepolicieredesetrangeresalafrontierefrancoitaliennehautesalpescommemaintiendelordresocialetracial