Roundtable: The material and immaterial remnants of Covid-19 for people on the move in the Global South

Abstract

The beginning of the pandemic saw fundamental changes, in the shape of unanticipated and novel experiences of isolation, confinement and exclusion. With the subsequent crises, such as the war in the Ukraine, Sudan and in Israel/Palestine, to name just a few, the Covid-19 pandemic has now faded into the background or is simply seen as just one amongst many other components of the so-called poly-crisis. Therefore, in this panel we want to discuss the New Normal, and to what extent the world has returned to the pre-pandemic taken-for-granted nature of micro and macromobilities for refugees and other migrants. These mobilities are widely shaped by forms of global apartheid, i.e. privileged mobilities for those in/from the so-called Global North and migration management and severe travel restrictions for those in/from the Global South.

In this panel, we take stock of the mid-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on global flight, migration and mobility, with a focus on the Global South. In particular, we want to reflect on the many diverse prognoses and predictions that were forecasted at the beginning of the pandemic and question to what extent they have materialised or not. By asking which policies and related mobility restrictions have outlasted the pandemic, we seek to shed light on the material and immaterial remnants of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This roundtable brings together members and associates from a DFG network on “Migration and Im/Mobility in the Global South during the Covid-19 Pandemic”, which was established in 2021. It will feature perspectives from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East

hybrid event