„We are making it on ourselves“ – Infrastrukturen der (Im)Mobilität in Bosnien und Herzegowina

Abstract

Due to tightened controls at the Croatian border and pushbacks by border guards, ‚people on the move‘ are forced to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a longer time. This article explores the infrastructures that refugees and other migrants use and maintain in canton Una-Sana and how they shape their movements and everyday lives. These ‚infrastructures of (im)mobility‘ fulfil a dual function: they structure mobility locally, along the Balkan route and across the EU's external border and enable life in (forced) immobility in the border space. To better understand these infrastructures, their physical, social and digital dimensions, and their patterns of (re)production need to be scrutinized. Building on central arguments of the mobility paradigm and critical migration studies, we argue that the (re)production and (re)configuration of infrastructures of (im)mobility is largely driven by highly unequal global mobility regimes and restrictive bordering practices, but that they can also become sites of autonomy and resistance against social marginalization, spatial exclusion and enforced immobilization.