Future perfect (An imaginative ethnography of Mediterranean illegalised migration)

The present volume emerges from a practice-based research that focuses on experiences of migration and border crossing during what are perceived as existential ‘turning points’ by the protagonists themselves. It recognizes the fundamental role that imagination plays in people’s perceptions of reality, in their decisions and actions, and finally in the way they narrate their experiences. As a consequence, it makes a stance for ethnographic practice to include more creative and collaborative methodologies in order to explore such intangible and unstructured realms of existence. In particular, this ethnography developed theoretically and methodologically in close collaboration with a group of Egyptian men who crossed the Mediterranean Sea in search of better living opportunities in Italy, by engaging them through a range of the co-creative processes such as theatre improvisations, storytelling practices, collaborative filmmaking and participatory animation.