One step more and I will be elsewhere. Reflections of an ‘illegal’ migrant anthropologist

The considerations being presented by Shahram Khosravi, a Swedish anthropologist of Iranian origins, concern the nature of physical and political borders, the rituals and practicalities of the migrant’s crossing. His thoughts are inspired by research in the field and his own personal experience of being an illegal migrant, 30 years ago. What emerges is a detailed study of borders, the migration process, contemporary inequalities and discriminations, combining ethnographical methodology with stories packed with sensations and emotions. When describing this global phenomenon, Khosravi recalls the experiences of several historic minorities and the thinking of intellectuals who belonged to them, such as Said, Kafka, Benjamin and Arendt. He also uses testimonies from the protagonists themselves, like the people from Central America pushing at the USA’s southern border, or those who come from all over to throng at the borders of “Fortress Europe”.