Shipwreck without spectator. risks and opportunities of an outdated metaphor

The article analyses the current phenomenon of international migration by adopting the internal perspective of the migrants. This analytical turn allows to appreciate the autonomous subjectivity of the migrant, who cannot be reduced to an object of the migratory politics of the hosting countries. It is also possible to focus on the new risks faced today by migrants: even though they survive the risk of shipwreck, they can suffer institutionalized practises of social mortification coming from the countries of arrival. On the other hand, the potential transformation of the spectators in victims arranged by current global risks could transform the citizens and the migrants also in the actors of politics of recognition, according to which the status of citizens can be extended to the migrants.