The politics of categorizing people of african descent - global frameworks, political meanings, and shifting boundaries of belonging

Abstract The article examines how the United Nations (UN) politically creates and structures the category “people of African descent” (PAD). It shows that, in international political debates, this category is closely linked to migration-related categories but not necessarily solely through overlaps, but also through processes of differentiation that further complicate the categorization process. Through a qualitative analysis this article examines the relationship between the category of ‘migrant’ and the ‘people of African descent’. It shows that the two are closely linked: Migration functions both as an internal mechanism of differentiation and as a demarcation from other migrant groups. At the same time, 'migrant itself is not a uniform category, but is constantly redefined in conjunction with race, legal status, gender and generation. This creates a complex political grammar in which the intertwining of people of African descent and migration marks specific forms of discrimination, vulnerability and visibility in the UN discourse.