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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Esta tese pretende ser um contributo para o estudo das fronteiras do estado e o seu governo. Tem como objetivo investigar o modo como, na contemporaneidade, o estado português governa a sua fronteira e a mobilidade através dela. O seu foco estará, portanto, nas políticas e nas práticas de controlo, nomeadamente nos procedimentos, mecanismos e dispositivos que a cada momento são acionados para permitir, ou não, o acesso dos viajantes a Portugal e à Europa. Cedo se tornou claro que para compreender estes imperativos era indispensável que pudesse estar junto dos profissionais que têm a responsabilidade de fazer o controlo da fronteira portuguesa. Para tal, realizei pesquisa etnográfica, na instituição do estado português que, até 2023, centralizou em si o controlo da mobilidade: o Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF). Entre junho de 2021 e abril de 2022, acompanhei o quotidiano dos inspetores num aeroporto em Portugal. Sugere-se que para analisar como o controlo dos viajantes é pensado, interpretado e, principalmente, operacionalizado, é necessário compreender que o SEF ocupa uma posição relacional dentro das várias hierarquias, formais e informais, que operam, dentro e fora, do aeroporto. Por um lado, a ação dos inspetores é moldada não só pela sobreposição dos vários interesses e entidades, públicas e privadas, como também pelos recursos, humanos e materiais, necessários ao desenvolvimento das suas funções. Por outro, o modo como são contemporizadas a sua autoridade e a agência dos viajantes coloca em evidência o largo espectro de subjetividades envolvidas, reforçando e alavancando a contingência como um ativo central do processo de decisão. A ação dos inspetores não está, assim, dissociada de disposições económicas, securitárias e sociais mais amplas, embora também tenha observado uma autonomia considerável. São estes os aspetos que configuram o posto de fronteira num campo social particularmente relevante para entender o que designarei de práticas contingenciais.
This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the governance of the state borders. Specifically, it investigates how, in contemporary times, the Portuguese state manages its border and regulates mobility across it. The focus is on control policies and practices, particularly the procedures, mechanisms and devices used to permit or deny access to travellers entering Portugal and Europe. It became evident that close engagement with the professionals responsible for border control was essential to comprehend these imperatives. Therefore, I conducted ethnographic research at the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (hereafter SEF), the state institution that centralised mobility control until 2023. Between June 2021 and April 2022, I followed the daily life of the inspectors at one airport in Portugal. This study suggests that analysing mobility control involves understanding SEF’s relational role within various formal and informal hierarchies operating inside and outside the airport. On the one hand, inspector’s actions are shaped by the overlapping interests of multiple, public and private, entities, by the human and material resources necessary to carry out their functions. On the other hand, the interplay between the inspectors’ authority and the agency of foreign citizens highlights the extensive range of subjectivities involved, emphasising contingency as a crucial asset in the decision-making process. While exhibiting considerable autonomy in controlling foreign travellers, the inspector's actions are not isolated from broader economic, security, and social frameworks. These dynamics shape the border post into a significant social field for understanding what I consider to be contingency practices.
This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the governance of the state borders. Specifically, it investigates how, in contemporary times, the Portuguese state manages its border and regulates mobility across it. The focus is on control policies and practices, particularly the procedures, mechanisms and devices used to permit or deny access to travellers entering Portugal and Europe. It became evident that close engagement with the professionals responsible for border control was essential to comprehend these imperatives. Therefore, I conducted ethnographic research at the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (hereafter SEF), the state institution that centralised mobility control until 2023. Between June 2021 and April 2022, I followed the daily life of the inspectors at one airport in Portugal. This study suggests that analysing mobility control involves understanding SEF’s relational role within various formal and informal hierarchies operating inside and outside the airport. On the one hand, inspector’s actions are shaped by the overlapping interests of multiple, public and private, entities, by the human and material resources necessary to carry out their functions. On the other hand, the interplay between the inspectors’ authority and the agency of foreign citizens highlights the extensive range of subjectivities involved, emphasising contingency as a crucial asset in the decision-making process. While exhibiting considerable autonomy in controlling foreign travellers, the inspector's actions are not isolated from broader economic, security, and social frameworks. These dynamics shape the border post into a significant social field for understanding what I consider to be contingency practices.
Description
Tese especialmente elaborada para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Antropologia
Keywords
Estado; Fronteira Portuguesa; Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras; Polícia; Etnografia; State; Portuguese Border; Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service; Police; Ethnography.