Reaching Across: Migrant Support Activism on a Divided Island

Abstract

This chapter discusses migrant support activism on the divided island of Cyprus, presenting an analysis of the work of KISA (Movement for Equality, Support, and Anti-Racism), the longest-running migrant support NGO in Cyprus. On an ethnographic level, the chapter analyzes KISA as a case study in civil courage, delving into the agency and motivations of activists engaged in exercises of civil translation with the goal of expanding the horizons of solidarity. On a theoretical level, we suggest that this case study reveals how civil sphere theory, whose original formulation is bounded by the borders of the state, could enlarge its scope by incorporating transnational considerations. This endeavor entails an examination of the specific resources and potential obstacles afforded to a Cypriot-based activist organization, KISA, by a broader EU-wide civil sphere.