In an international landscape shaped by security frenzy, the control of the entry and permanence of foreigners in national territory, and subsequent deportation, has gained new forms of expression.It is in this context that the representation of “the other” (especially those whose alterity is characterized by a different nationality, culture, etc.) emerges increasingly associated with a logic of criminalization and stigmatization.As key instances of identity representation and construction, the media plays a special role in this process, mostly following a one-dimensional pattern, characterized by the reproduction of “derogatory stereotypes” (in Carvalheiro, 2006: 77).

In this seminar, I intend to address the social representation of deportees in Cape Verde, using, for instance, some journalistic texts produced by the two main Cape-Verdean weekly newspapers: “A Semana” and “Expresso das Ilhas”.

The key question I raise is the following:to what extent does the social representation of the deportee contribute to the perpetuation – or not – of the deportation-violence relation?In other words, does the way in which deportees are represented in Cape Verde reproduce/maintain the stigmatization approach that they experience in the host countries or, on the other hand, does it deconstruct stigmatization, making the (re)integration process easier when they “return home”?

Bibliography: Carvalheiro, José Ricardo, (2006), “Da Representação Mediática à Recepção Política. Discursos de uma Minoria”, Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, 51, 73-93.

Biographic Note

Katia Cardoso is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, where she is a member of the Peace Studies Research Group and a collaborator of Migration Studies Research Group.She holds a Doctoral Degree in Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship.Her research interests focus on issues related to juvenile collective violence, youth in Africa, post-colonialism and Cape-Verdean Diaspora.