Migration and the Deep Time of Media Infrastructures

Koen Leurs, Philipp Seuferling

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

While infrastructures of media and of migration currently converge in specific ways, in this commentary, we consider how these infrastructures always reflect distinctive moments in media history, as well as in migration history. An archaeological approach to infrastructure posits that media infrastructures do not spring into action fully formed, and neither is there ever a moment when they would be fully formed. We propose the perspective of deep time of infrastructures as a way of opening up unresolved questions about what critical researchers can and should do with historically-informed inquiry of media technologies across migration contexts. We specifically operationalize the deep time of media and migration infrastructures by addressing the three dimensions of: (1) materialities; (2) practices; and (3) imaginaries.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)290-297
Number of pages8
JournalCommunication, Culture and Critique
Volume15
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We authors appreciate the editorial guidance and support by Sandra Ponzanesi and Melissa Click. We are grateful for the input of Anne Kaun, Margie Cheesman, and participants of the LSE Media and Communication Department Research Dialogue on "Technologies of Containment and Control" (February 10, 2022) that helped us shape up this commentary.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).

Keywords

  • deep time
  • imaginaries
  • materialities
  • media archaeology
  • media infrastructures
  • migration infrastructures
  • practices

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