The Migration&Development Apparatus: Contradictions between international discourse, institutional practices, and migrants’ perspectives
Laura Stielike
In this paper I focus on the contradictions between the international discourse on migration and development, the institutional practices of states and NGOs, and the perspectives of migrants themselves. I argue that taking a closer look at contradictions enables us to question seemingly secure knowledge on migration and development. Drawing on Michel Foucault‘s concept of apparatus, I analyse the migration and development paradigm as a network of discourses, practices, and modes of subjectivation. Using the example of Cameroonian migration to Germany, I argue that the migration&development apparatus is characterised by four major contradictory binaries: inclusion and exclusion, competence and incompetence, politicisation and depoliticisation, as well as dependency and independency.