The Aerial Witness and Infrastructures of Solidarity

Abstract European social movements in solidarity with migrants have taken many forms, from maritime struggles at the edge of territory to antideportation protests in urban centers. Over the last five years, a new site of solidarity and struggle has emerged in the skies, with activist pilots and civil society organizations launching their own aerial surveillance operations to challenge the state's monopoly over the aerial view. The materiality of aviation and the legal and spatial systems that govern flying mean that the scope for political action and solidarity practices via the plane is always constrained. This article examines the affordances and limitations of aerial infrastructure as a vehicle for contesting state power and expressing solidarity with the agential movement/s of migrants.