Desperate Journeys to Europe: Sensebreaking in Extreme Contexts

Abstract

This paper uncovers the ways in which sensebreaking processes are initiated and then unfold over time in extreme contexts. Using semi‐structured interviews with irregular migrants from Pakistan undertaking perilous journeys to Europe, this research makes two major contributions to the literatures on extreme contexts and sensebreaking. First, we develop two temporal modes of sensebreaking: sensebreaking with the past and sensebreaking with the future. We reveal the role of liminal spaces in sensebreaking and explain why sensebreaking needs to be reconceptualized as an inherently protracted, often indeterminate, process. Second, we uncover the triggers and drivers of sensebreaking in extreme contexts. We identify two states that precipitate sensebreaking, derealization and disorientation. We theorize the ways in which they are triggered by emotional and physical disruptions and their role in sustaining sensebreaking over time. We also explicate how temporal irregularities, particularly time contortion and time appropriation, influence the development of sensebreaking in extreme contexts.