Desirability and Undesirability in this Week’s Readings
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I started my readings with Bald’s text and I encountered some really interesting points upon which I want to draw. First, the notions of desirability and undesirability were really interesting for me. To me, these two words are intertwined with the concept of migration. Once you leave your hometown, the starting point, and once you reach your destination, the final stage, you are struggling with these two key concepts. Looking at the individual level of the migration process, the very beginning stage comes with a sense of desiring what you do not have at hand and then comes the rest. Now, the desire and urge you have leads you to a realm where your desires do not matter that much anymore but you are the outsider and there is this huge shift in the perspective and the notions of desirability and undesirability are not your concerns but of the country or community you have joined. This time, these words are cast upon you!
At some point, you are the « undesirable alien » and you see there are attempts made around your existence as a foreigner. People try to give or assign you an identity they assume fits you. As we had in Bald’s text that at some point Singh was talking about the Indians as they are « goods » or « products » when he was paving the way for naturalization they were seeking for so long. I was thinking about the notions of desirability and undesirability when reading this part too and that was really captivating for me to see how these two notions circle around and among migrants.
And then reading Sivanandan’s text, I was tracing these two notions and I saw their powerful presence. In that text, immigrant labour was considered as the economic profit for the capital and the social cost to the labor. This time it was not the migrant who was struggling with these two concepts neither was it the debates around his/her presence but it was the society and the flow which had assigned them the desirable in one case and undesirable in the other although in the same working system and society. Actually the presence of the migrant is considered of these two integral notions.
Watching Lamar music video and listening to the music, again these two notions were very dominant for me. Specifically the verse where he says « you make us killers » was really moving for me as it was again the assigned undesirability speaking and this time it was going to the extreme. Then the violent scenes and the presence of gun made me think of the severe dialogues the desirable and undesirable have had during the time of the history specifically when it comes to racism and when the minority of migrants are at the heart of discussions…