<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>In this article, I study the quilting practice of Barbara James to investigate the making of serial migrant subjects. Serial migrants are not from a single place, nor do they travel in the same direction. They have moved beyond a first experience of immigration and in so doing, step beyond the home/host dualities of immigration. One might see the project of following their paths as a move from accounts of the creative, imaginative ‘third space’ produced by immigrants’ arrival in their new homes, toward a consideration of the concrete ‘third place’ of the second or third-time immigrant. Exile, economic migrant, love migrant, exchange student, refugee: a serial migrant adds up not just several identities but systems of categorisation over time. This migratory subject often changes ‘positions’ not only geographically but socially, making us question the static assumptions of social theory with their experiences of diverse approaches to nationality, class, race, ethnicity and gender.</p>
</abstract>

In this article, I study the quilting practice of Barbara James to investigate the making of serial migrant subjects. Serial migrants are not from a single place, nor do they travel in the same direction. They have moved beyond a first experience of immigration and in so doing, step beyond the home/host dualities of immigration. One might see the project of following their paths as a move from accounts of the creative, imaginative ‘third space’ produced by immigrants’ arrival in their new homes, toward a consideration of the concrete ‘third place’ of the second or third-time immigrant. Exile, economic migrant, love migrant, exchange student, refugee: a serial migrant adds up not just several identities but systems of categorisation over time. This migratory subject often changes ‘positions’ not only geographically but socially, making us question the static assumptions of social theory with their experiences of diverse approaches to nationality, class, race, ethnicity and gender.

Stitching the cloths of serial migrant life: The quilts of Barbara James

Borderlands Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Stitching the cloths of serial migrant life: The quilts of Barbara James"}

In this article, I study the quilting practice of Barbara James to investigate the making of serial migrant subjects. Serial migrants are not from a single...

Stitching the cloths of serial migrant life: The quilts of Barbara James

Published Online: Apr 30, 2020

Page range: 88 - 110

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/borderlands-2019-005

Keywords
quilting, Barbara James, migration, relationality, migrants

© 2019 Susan Ossman published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Stitching the cloths of serial migrant life: The quilts of Barbara James

Published Online: Apr 30, 2020

Page range: 88 - 110

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/borderlands-2019-005

Keywordsquilting, Barbara James, migration, relationality, migrants

© 2019 Susan Ossman published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
quilting, Barbara James, migration, relationality, migrants