Material Residues: An Ethnography of Migratory Traces in the Trieste Borderlands
Material Residues: An Ethnography of Migratory Traces in the Trieste Borderlands

Summary/Abstract: The article presents and analyses material traces of irregularized migration in Trieste hinterland. Its theoretical foundations are complemented by two ethnographic fieldworks conducted in 2023 and 2025 in Trieste and its surroundings, among people who arrived in Trieste via the Balkan route and among the local inhabitants of the Trieste hinterland. The research shows that one of the key indicators of the hidden movement of people through this area is the presence of material traces at the town’s edges or within the forests. Considering the experiences of the interviewees, the article describes how diverse perceptions and terms attributed to the tangible traces of migration movements in this area are. Furthermore, it discusses the discourse that labels the material residues of irregularized migration as “waste”, which is consequently the reason for their removal from the environment. Above all, this article aims to show why researching the material traces of contemporary migration is important and necessary.

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