Unbounding Europe. Bordering and the Politics of Mediterranean Solidarity in Sicily and Tunisia.

A dialogue with Ilaria Giglioli, Assistant Professor of International Studies, University of San Francisco.

At a time of global border fortification, can Mediterranean borderlands offer alternative models of belonging to those proposed by rising nationalisms? The talk addresses this question by focusing on the Central Mediterranean Corridor between Sicily and Tunisia, where it analyzes everyday relations between Sicilians and Tunisians and debates about their coexistence in southwest Sicily, on the backdrop of similar debates in late 19th century colonial Tunis. It argues that histories of marginalization within the nation-state do not automatically make borderlands inclusive for migrants, as internally marginalized populations have long affirmed their own full modernity in relation to external others. Understanding the interplay of different degrees of marginality is key to identify how solidarity movements can emerge and be effective. The talk also argues that depoliticized celebrations of cross-Mediterranean coexistence ignore longstanding inequalities and reinforce symbolic hierarchies between Sicilians and Tunisians. Recognizing and addressing these inequalities is key to develop a transformative politics of solidarity. In more general terms, the talk argues against idealizing intermediate border spaces or subjects in the quest to ‘denaturalize’ fortified borders, inviting us – instead – to explore the fraught histories of material and symbolic boundary drawing through which our taken-for-granted borders came to be.