Pushing through Fear Stereotypes and Imperfections by Amina Chitembo

Pushing through Fear Stereotypes and Imperfections by Amina Chitembo

Examining how undocumented migrants are using film, video, and other documentary media to challenge surveillance, detention, and deportation

As debates over immigration increasingly become flashpoints of political contention in the United States, a variety of advocacy groups, social service organizations, filmmakers, and artists have provided undocumented migrants with the tools and training to document their experiences.

In The Undocumented Everyday, Rebecca M. Schreiber examines the significance of self-representation by undocumented Mexican and Central American migrants, arguing that by centering their own subjectivity and presence through their use of documentary media, these migrants are effectively challenging intensified regimes of state surveillance and liberal strategies that emphasize visibility as a form of empowerment and inclusion. Schreiber explores documentation as both an aesthetic practice based on the visual conventions of social realism and a state-administered means of identification and control.

As Schreiber shows, by visualizing new ways of belonging not necessarily defined by citizenship, these migrants are remaking documentary media, combining formal visual strategies with those of amateur photography and performative elements to create a mixed-genre aesthetic. In doing so, they make political claims and create new forms of protection for migrant communities experiencing increased surveillance, detention, and deportation.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780995739642
ISBN 10	0995739641
Title	Pushing through Fear Stereotypes and Imperfections
Author	Amina Chitembo
Series	Fear Blaster
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Diverse Cultures Publishing
Year published	2017-12-15
Number of pages	234
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.