The Other Side of the Fence: Reconceptualizing the “Camp” and Migration Zones at the Borders of Spain 1 Heather L. Johnson Queen’s University Belfast This article explores the dynamics of the space of exception at the bor- ders of Europe in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, and the neighboring Moroccan city of Oujda. Building upon field research conducted in the spring of 2008, I ask how we can understand the political space of migration not simply as exceptional, but as shaped by the mobility of the irregular migrants moving outside of the frameworks, policies, and practices of the state. By privileging the migrant narrative and making use of Ranci ere’s conception of politics as shaped by the demands of those who “have no part,” I suggest an alternative way of understanding the politics of exception and agency of non-citizens—that is, one of dis- ruption and demands to open up powerful potentials for change in an otherwise rigid regime. Crossing Borders, Crossing Fences: Introduction In April 2008, John (personal interview, April 2008) 2 matter-of-factly explained to me how migration to Melilla used to work. “We used to climb the wire,” he said, “but, then, when we were trying the Moroccan police started shooting.” He was referring to October 2005, when he had made his first attempt to enter Melilla by crossing its border with Morocco—at the time demarcated by a three-meter-high barbed wire fence. The border fence at Melilla is now twice as fortified—higher, with a double barbed wire fence and patrolled on both sides by Spanish and Moroccan authorities. The change was a direct result of events in September and October 2005, when “hundreds” (some human rights activists claim thousands) of sub-Saharan African migrants who had been living in the surrounding forests for up to two years “attacked” the border at both Melilla and Ceuta, the two Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan side of the Mediterranean sea (Carling 2007:23). Using makeshift ladders and cardboard suits to protect them- selves from the barbed wire, they attempted to climb the fences that mark the only land borders that Europe shares with Africa. On three separate nights at 1 Financial support for this research was provided by the Canadian Consortium for Human Security and the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition at McMaster University. I would like to thank the Faculty of Law at Mohammad I University in Oujda, Morocco, for field support and Mark Salter, Amanda Coles, Mark Busser, Peter Nyers, and the anonymous reviewers for helpful and insightful comments. This article was presented in draft form at the annual CPSA conference in Montreal, May 2010. 2 Please note that unless otherwise indicated, all names used in this paper are false to protect the identity of par- ticipants. Johnson, Heather L.(2013) The Other Side of the Fence: Reconceptualizing the “Camp” and Migration Zones at the Borders of Spain. International Political Sociology, doi: 10.1111/ips.12010 Ó 2013 International Studies Association International Political Sociology (2013) 7, 75–91