Opportunity of encounter: negotiating difference in the No Borders movement in Athens

Abstract

Much political struggle presupposes that all people are equal. Yet the realities of people's lives are marked by intersectional inequalities and differences that influence the way they engage in political activism. This could be observed in Athens in the 2010s. There, the solidarity structures for refugee_migrants were highly transnational and diverse but influenced by egalitarian ideals of the No Borders movement. Activist groups tried to build communities of refugee_migrants and other activists who had very different life situations and needs. The interaction in squats and other activist projects created opportunities to make differences tangible for each other. This article embraces the conceptual assumption that inequalities that shape solidarity relationships must not be concealed so that the different activists can truly work together on an equal footing. Therefore, it examines how No Borders actors negotiated the differences between individuals under conditions of high diversity. Through an analysis of discursive practices, I show what differences were relevant for No Borders activists. I discuss negotiations, which are made to avoid the term ‘refugee’ and other denominations which center on origin and migration, and instead focus on skills or activities. Data was collected through a multi-sited ethnography from 2015 to 2018 and analysed with Situational Analysis.