‘Don’t become a victim’, stay where you are: Trafficking prevention and the promotion of immobility in Vietnam

Valentine Gavard-Suaire

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper looks into several projects raising awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery risks in Vietnamese communities where irregular migration to the UK is common. It approaches these activities as entangled in migration control, and traces how they convince the audience to stay put. The paper reveals that anti-trafficking messages trigger affectively loaded visions of the future, that points towards im/mobility choices in the present. These findings lead me to frame representations and emotions as crucial sites in the attempted making of self-regulating and ‘acquiescent’ (Schewel 2019) static subjects. The analysis contributes to drawing geographers’ attention towards anti-trafficking prevention as a form of anticipatory action (Anderson 2010) with discrete, yet important implications on im/mobility. It also furthers academic reflection on processes of migration control, by shedding light on local actors whose protection concerns participate in the reduction of mobility options.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages26
JournalMobilities
Publication statusSubmitted - 19 Oct 2020

Keywords

  • Vietnam
  • Migration
  • Anti-trafficking
  • Prevention
  • Emotions

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