Congolese mothers, affective circuits and ‘acts of citizenship’ in Russia

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the intensified flow of refugees seeking asylum across Europe in recent years, scholars have increasingly turned their attention to the encounter between non-citizens and citizens. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Russia (2015–2019) among non-citizens, including Congolese asylum-seekers, this article examines how Congolese women foster affective ties as a means of creating a sense of belonging in a largely unwelcoming place. In considering how asylum-seeking, Congolese women in Moscow invest in ‘affective circuits’ forged through their children as they move through the city, navigating NGOs, citizen-activists, and forms of state power, the article argues that these are political acts. These acts are shaped by racialized citizenship practices, as well as distinctive politics of reproduction in Russia.