Talk On — Debates in Anthropology Documenting the Undocumented w/ Romm Lewkowicz
Jul 4, 2024
Romm Lewkowicz, a postdoctoral researcher in Anthropology, dives into the intricate world of biometric documentation and undocumented migration in Europe. He reveals how migration policies have turned Europe into a testbed for experimental documentation technologies. Romm discusses EuroDAC, fingerprint databases, and the troubling differential treatment of citizens versus non-citizens. His fieldwork on Chios highlights the island's transformation into a biometric hotspot, showcasing the limbo faced by migrants and the broader implications of identity systems.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Europe As A Documentation Laboratory
- Europe became a testing ground for documentation technologies applied to migrants rather than a story of simple invisibility.
- New biometric tools reframed migrants as subjects for governance experiments, not just as 'undocumented' people.
Biometrics Built For Migrants, Not Citizens
- Eurodac aimed to create a pan-European biometric database to register migrants by fingerprints and now debates facial recognition.
- Non-citizens became test subjects because European privacy norms limited biometric use on citizens.
Bodies As Border Markers
- Biometrics were proposed to inscribe abolished internal Schengen borders onto migrants' bodies.
- The system aimed to enforce the Dublin rule by proving a migrant's first EU entry through biometric traces.