From Detention to City: How Asylum-Seekers Navigate and Reshape Borders through Space Bordering effects on asylum seekers and refugees' spatial mobility in Lithuania
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2025-03-17
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en
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This thesis explores the effects of bordering processes on the spatial mobility of asylum-seekers and refugees in Lithuania. It aims to highlight the subjective and embodied experiences of asylum-seekers as they navigate and reshape borders during the asylum status determination process. Using a qualitative approach, the study examines how asylum seekers negotiate and construct new spatial and mental boundaries within the state-imposed borders. Employing the theoretical framework of Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad, this thesis explores how asylum seekers perceive, conceive, and live in their surrounding spaces. The spatial triad reveals the everyday practices and strategies asylum-seekers employ to challenge confinement, build connections, and expand their mobilities. By examining the dynamics of bordering practices across spaces like detention, open camps, and urban settings, this study contributes to the broader discussions on borders, migration, and human mobility. It offers a nuanced understanding of borders not merely as state-imposed borders but as deeply personal, complex, multifaceted, and dynamic spaces. This thesis foregrounds asylum-seekers and refugees as active agents rather than passive victims. Their lived experiences challenge the dominant narratives of border control and shed light on the personal and political dimensions of border regimes.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen