In this episode of de Verbranders, we talk to Gracie Mae Bradley about a book she co-wrote with Luke de Noronha, called “Against Borders: The Case for Abolition”. In it, they draw inspiration from prison abolitionism and the black feminist politics that shape it, and they bring that body of thought and practice to the work of organising against borders.

We talk about the harm borders do, the hierarchies they produce, and the importance of dismantling them. And we talk about how prison abolitionism teaches us to do this work of dismantling alongside the equally important work of building the worlds we want to live in, with the ultimate goal of shrinking borders into non-existence.

We also ask Gracie about what it is she loves, and the kinds of worlds she dreams of and is fighting for. We asked her to bring three pieces of art, which we weave into the conversation.

Enjoy!

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion)and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

During the episode, we listen to Philip Glass' Dance No. 4, and Gracie reads from Alexis Pauline Gumbs' "Undrowned" and from a stunning poem she wrote, called "On Ending"

In our conversation today, we talk to Luke de Noronha about his book Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of deportation to Jamaica. Meant as a contribution to the collective struggle against racism and deportation, the book tells the life stories of four men who grew up in the UK, were deported to Jamaica following criminal conviction, and now struggle to survive and rebuild their lives in the Caribbean.

We start the conversation talking about Luke’s process of conducting research for this book. We talk about his friendship with the four men he writes about, and what this friendhip meant – and continues to mean - for his work as a researcher.

We also talk about Jamaica, the legacies of slavery, colonialism and ongoing neocolonialism that explain Jamaica’s relative position to the UK, and the immense amount of ignorance on the effects of these legacies in the European nation-states we speak from.

We end our conversation discussing Luke’s forthcoming book on border abolition, called ‘against borders: the case for abolition’ which he wrote together with Gracie Mae Bradley. In it, Luke and Gracie argue we must transform society and our relationships to one another, and build a world in which everyone has the freedom to move and to stay.

Our guest today is Polly Pallister-Wilkins. We talk to Polly about humanitarian borderwork. Polly came up with this term to point to the complicated relationship between violent mobility injustice and the life-saving rescue efforts that occur in response. What does it mean when humanitarianism is the main response to death and suffering at the border? What lines can be drawn between today’s humanitarian borders, colonialism and white supremacy?

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion) and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

Our guest today is Nandita Sharma. Nandita is a professor of sociology at the University of Hawaii and an active member of several social movements, including the No Borders movement and movements struggling for the planetary commons.

In our conversation today, we talk about Nandita's recent book Home Rule: National sovereignty and the separation of natives and migrants (2020).

In this book, she profoundly questions the idea that humanity can be divided up into nations, and that each nation can claim a particular place on this earth and demarcate it as theirs. As countless historical and contemporary examples show, Nandita explains, such claims can always be mobilized against other people who are seen not to be native, and who therefore can have their rights removed, be excluded, expelled or even exterminated.

We also talk about the hardening of nationalisms across the political spectrum and the need to organize for a world that is profoundly about non-exclusion. As climate catastrophe intensifies, people are going to be moving for their lives at a scale that is unprecedented. How are we going to transform the way that we respond to such movements, so that we don’t simply accept mass death at the world’s borders? As Nandita argues, it truly is a matter of survival that we learn to imagine ourselves as a political community on a planetary level. The dismantling of borders, Nandita argues, is an essential step in our struggle toward a decolonization worth fighting for.

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion) and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

Jazie is activist en strijd sinds 2020 als fractievoorzitter van BIJ1 in de gemeenteraad in Amsterdam, onder andere tegen het algemene ontmoedigingsbeleid dat er op gericht is om het voor niet-rijke en geracialiseerde mensen uit voormalige koloniën zo moeilijk mogelijk te maken om naar Nederland te komen en hier een leven op te bouwen. Dat ontmoedigen gebeurt vooral door steeds selectiever grensbeleid en de koppelingswet die sinds 1998 van kracht is en verblijfstatus aan toegang tot legaal werk en overheidsvoorzieningen koppelt.

In de aflevering vertelt Jazie over hoe dat ontmoedigingsbeleid er in de praktijk uitziet en welke mogelijkheden de gemeente Amsterdam zou hebben om tegen het rijk in te gaan. Hij stelt bijvoorbeeld voor dat de gemeente haar eigen opvang regelt, dus een opvang die niet gekoppeld is aan het landelijke terugkeerbeleid, en om geillegaliseerden toegang te geven tot Amsterdamse onderwijsinstellingen. Ten slotte benadrukt hij hoe belangrijk juist buitenparlementaire politiek is in het teweeg brengen van verandering.

NB: de opname voor deze aflevering vonden plaats op 1 juli 2021. Tussen toen en het moment van publiceren is er veel veranderd, zowel mondiaal als in de lokale politiek.

llustraties door B. Carrot, o.a. uit Alle Dagen Ui, uitgegeven door Soul Food Comics. Voor meer B. Carrot zie www.instagram.com/bcarrotdraws/ en www.bcarrot.nl

Grafische vormgeving door Thomas van Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast/)

Themamuziek: David (gitaar) en Joris (drums)

Themamuziek: Allen (accordeon) en Neske (viool), naar Doina van de Fanfare Ciocarlia

We talk to Sami about illegalization in the Netherlands, and about the Landelijk Vreemdelingen Voorziening, a temporary shelter that offers no solutions, because people are being deported against their will, or, if they cannot be deported, end up on the street again. At the moment, politicians are debating whether or not the LVV should continue until after it’s initial period of one and a half year. In the meantime, people are being put on the street. So, Sami and a few of his comrades decided to start the group “We Are Still Here”. Together, they are saying loud and clear that it is time to end temporary solution and to provide permanent residency permits for all. If you’d like to know more, and/or get involved, check out https://permanentverblijf.org/

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion) and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

We talk to Maryla about her research on how Polish border guards use their discretionary power, or the wiggle room they have as they implement the law.

Maryla worked with polish border guards for half a year, first at one of the regional headquarters and then at three different outposts, where she went on ride-alongs to see for herself how border guards carry out their work on the ground. She describes the nationalist and blatantly racist and sexist ways in which border guards talk about their work and people on the move, and the violence that they deploy when they stop and check people for their documents, take them to the station, and deport them. She also describes the nationalist and sexist ways in which she herself was addressed by some of these border guards, and how being in this violent context impacted her then and now.

To us, Maryla’s descriptions show that violence is not only the result of how migration laws are implemented, but actually inherent to these laws, and specifically the distinction that they make between people who have a right to move and stay and those who have not.

lllustrations by B. Carrot, i.a. from Alle Dagen Ui, published by Soul Food Comics. For more of B. Carrot see www.instagram.com/bcarrotdraws and www.bcarrot.nl

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion)and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

Dit is deel 2 van ons gesprek met Joyce en Sinne. Joyce en Sinne zetten zich al jaren actief in als supporters van Wij Zijn Hier, een groep mensen die sinds 2012 door Amsterdam trekt om collectief te protesteren tegen het Nederlandse vreemdelingenbeleid. Mocht je nog niet hebben geluisterd naar de eerste aflevering dan raden we je aan dat te doen!

In deze aflevering spreken we over de laatste jaren van Wij Zijn Hier, onder burgemeester Femke Halsema. We praten over de introductie van de LVV, de Landelijke Vreemdelingen Voorziening, en de pogingen van de gemeente om Wij Zijn Hier daarin op te nemen zonder te luisteren naar de behoeften van de mensen zelf. En we praten over de toekomst van Wij Zijn Hier, hoe solidariteit met geïllegaliseerde mensen er uitziet in een situatie waarin diepe ongelijkheid wordt gecreëerd, de gevaren van white saviorism, en wat je kunt doen om geïllegaliseerde mensen in Nederland te ondersteunen.

llustraties door B. Carrot, o.a. uit Alle Dagen Ui, uitgegeven door Soul Food Comics. Voor meer B. Carrot zie www.instagram.com/bcarrotdraws/ en www.bcarrot.nl

Grafische vormgeving door Thomas van Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast/)

Muziek: Pazzo Mato van Caspian Hat Dance. https://www.caspianhatdance.com/

Muziek: We Are Here Band, optreden in de Paradiso op 10 feb 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qkUkF_R6Ik

Themamuziek: David (gitaar) en Joris (drums)

Themamuziek: Allen (accordeon) en Neske (viool), naar Doina van de Fanfare Ciocarlia

In de aflevering vandaag spreken we met Joyce en Sinne. Joyce en Sinne zetten zich al jaren actief in als supporters van Wij Zijn Hier, een groep mensen die sinds 2012 door Amsterdam trekt om collectief te protesteren tegen het Nederlandse vreemdelingenbeleid. Dit is deel 1 van ons gesprek. Vanaf volgende week kun je luisteren naar deel 2.

We spreken over de eerste jaren van Wij Zijn Hier, van de Notweg tot aan de Vluchtgarage. Joyce en Sinne vertellen hoe Wij Zijn Hier tot stand kwam, waarom kraken door de jaren heen de enige manier bleek om het protest van de groep door te laten gaan en de groep bij elkaar te houden, hoe de gemeente Amsterdam onder voormalig burgemeester van der Laan op die verschillende gekraakte panden en protesten heeft gereageerd, en over de verdeel en heers politiek die van het begin af aan met de groep vanuit het rijk en de gemeente gespeeld werd.

This is our second episode with Barak Kalir. In this episode, we talk about Barak's research into deportation in Spain. We talk about the organizational culture of the Spanish police and their focus on deporting what they refer to as "foreign criminals." We talk about the so-called tragedy of Tarajal, and why we should really refer to this event as a racist attack. And we talk about the role of NGOs in implementing "voluntary" returns, and what voluntary really means in this context.

And finally, we talk about Barak’s concept "departheid." How it helps us think about the colonial roots of borders, how it points to how access to mobility is structurally racialized, and how it draws attention to the forms of racism people encounter as they move through borders in their daily lives.