_{ROMIK BOSE MITRA} 

This thesis is about the politics of identity and belonging. It is about the impact that practices of identification, government surveillance, and global systems of citizenship and nationality have on the people that live by them. Inspired by the various borders (both real and imagined) that I maneuvered around to get to Rhode Island, and enriched with perspectives gathered in conversation with theoreticians in the field, Paperwork is a set of documents and debriefs that details the work that I made in response to a migratory and investigatory journey. Through this thesis, I attempt to better understand various bureaucratic practices and the implications they have on our lives. Inscribed within concerns of government infrastructure, erasure, the ethics of compliance, and actions of dissent, I lay the groundwork for a design practice that operates realistically within these systems.