Future Perfect: An Imaginative Ethnography of Mediterranean Illegalised Migration
By (Author) Alexandra D'Onofrio
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press
3rd June 2026
United Kingdom
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
Refugees and political asylum
Social and cultural anthropology
Hardback
248
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
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.
Alexandra D'Onofrio is a member of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and a Lecturer in Social and Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester