Migrating Young Unaccompanied Children and the Mobile Commons: Law, Vulnerability, and the Practice of Family Reunification in Sweden

Abstract

In this article I call for an awareness of the mobile commons– the informal support that exists among migrating people, NGOs, and activists – in relation to the realization of family reunification. Taking its point of departure in a concrete case of family reunification for young unaccompanied children, the article seeks to expose how the traditional legal notion of the liberal subject fails to provide protection in the context of legal practice. I argue for using the vulnerable subject as a starting point, in order to make more visible the context in which law operates and ensure protection even for the youngest children.