63|mai 2024
Varia

The Government of Irregular Migration in Sfax

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  • Greta Mazzocchi
Greta Mazzocchi
Polytechnic University of Turin
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/spc-18238

Published 2024-05-01

Keywords

  • agriculture,
  • government of irregular migration,
  • Sfax,
  • smuggling economy,
  • political ambivalence,
  • Tunisia,
  • acteurs locaux,
  • économie de la contrebande,
  • gouvernement de la migration irrégulière,
  • Tunisie,
  • local actors,
  • ambivalence politique
    • ...More
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How to Cite

Mazzocchi, G. (2024). The Government of Irregular Migration in Sfax. Sociétés Politiques comparées. Revue européenne d’analyse Des sociétés Politiques, 63(mai-août). https://doi.org/10.36253/spc-18238

Copyright (c) 2025 Greta Mazzocchi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This article examines power dynamics between city and central State relations in Tunisia, focusing on the government of migration in Sfax, a southern city. The study describes the emergence of Sfax as a migratory hub and its migratory ecosystem. It argues that the absence of a central strategy has reshaped both local and central powers, shifting from community empowerment to risk management, resulting in a “patchwork” approach of ad hoc measures. The role of local actors is analyzed, both considering the “government of the living” and the “government of the dead”, with particular attention to the creation of “numeric anonymous identities” for deceased migrants, driven by neoliberal practices and rising shipwreck deaths. Between 2022 and 2023, economic austerity, food shortages, and climate change deepened reliance on cheap migrant labor in fishing and farming, making smuggling a necessary survival strategy in Sfax.

 

Le gouvernement des migrations irrégulières à Sfax

Cet article examine les dynamiques de pouvoir entre les villes et les relations avec l’État central en Tunisie, en se concentrant sur le gouvernement des migrations à Sfax. Il décrit l’émergence de cette ville du sud en tant que centre migratoire, et son écosystème migratoire. Il soutient que l’absence de stratégie centrale a remodelé les pouvoirs locaux et centraux, passant de l’autonomisation des communautés à la gestion des risques, ce qui a donné lieu à en ensemble non coordonné de mesures ad hoc. Le rôle des acteurs locaux est analysé, tant du point de vue du « gouvernement des vivants » que du « gouvernement des morts », avec une attention particulière accordée à la création d’« identités numériques anonymes » pour les migrants décédés, motivée par les pratiques néolibérales et l’augmentation du nombre de naufrages. Entre 2022 et 2023, l’austérité économique, les pénuries alimentaires et le changement climatique ont renforcé la dépendance à l’égard de la main-d’œuvre migrante bon marché dans les secteurs de la pêche et de l’agriculture, faisant de la contrebande une stratégie de survie nécessaire à Sfax.

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