Migrant bodies in the field of visibility: racialization, surveillance, and struggles for existence in urban space

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics of racialization, visibility, and surveillance that structure the experiences of migrant bodies in contemporary urban spaces. Through a critical analysis grounded in decolonial perspectives, biopolitics, and intersectionality studies, it argues that the presence of migrants, particularly Black migrants, women, and those living under conditions of precarity, constitutes a field of dispute over who has the right to urban space, political visibility, and full existence. The article proposes that the hypervisibility and invisibility of migrant bodies are not contradictory but complementary processes. While some bodies are criminalized for their mere presence in specific public spaces, others experience invisibility in terms of access to rights and dignity. It concludes that struggles over visibility and urban existence reflect not only migration-related issues but also persistent colonial legacies that continue to govern who may occupy the city and under what conditions.