Glossary

Successful collaboration begins with a shared language, hence the need for a glossary. This joint effort of contributors from several teams ensures, on the one hand, terminological and conceptual coherence across not only our theoretical approaches, but also the qualitative case studies and quantitative research conducted in OPPORTUNITIES. On the other hand, our glossary facilitates communication between the academic side of the project and the fieldwork conducted by NGOs, uniting our teams working from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Senegal.

For more information about the Structure and Objectives of the Glossary, click here...)

Contact zone

The concept of the contact zone was introduced to postcolonial theory by Marie-Louise Pratt to refer to “social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination or subordination – such as colonialism and slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out across the globe today” (Pratt 2008 [1992], 7). Countries of transit and countries of arrival can be considered as contact zones, as they constitute spaces in which migrants, citizens, and other stakeholders meet and establish asymmetrical relationships.

⇢ see also: Citizenship, Migrant, Stakeholder

References and further reading:

Pratt, Marie-Louise. 2008. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. London and New York: Routledge.

Category: A

Work Package: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

[CG]

 

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