Return, state thought and historical amnesia. The return programmes of the Xunta de Galicia from the Abdelmalek Sayad perspective

Abstract

In this article we use Abdelmalek Sayad's conceptual "toolbox" to analyse the initiatives promoted by the Xunta de Galicia for the return of emigrants. We are particularly interested in his conceptualisations of the discourses on return as expressions of the national order and State Thought, and his conception of return as the central nucleus of an anthropology of the total act of migrating. With this article we collaborate in the dissemination of lesser-known dimensions of Sayad's thought and, at the same time, we make an original contribution to the field of return studies by considering discourses of return as instruments of national building.

Keywords:
Abdelmalek Sayad; return; public policy; emigration/immigration; Galicia