Europe's Migration Crisis
Border Deaths and Human Dignity

Rejecting the assumption that migration is a 'crisis' for Europe, Squire explores alternative responses which provide openings for a renewed humanism.

Vicki Squire (Author)

9781108835336, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 September 2020

280 pages, 7 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.62 kg

'Vicki Squire's Europe's Migration Crisis: Border Deaths and Human Dignity offers a most insightful and compelling analysis of EU practices of governing migration and the involvement of activist groups in contesting the power relations through which death and vulnerability become normalised. It draws crucial attention to multifaceted dynamics of power and violence that underscore the 'Mediterranean migration crisis', including the deaths and vulnerabilities of people on the move and the modern European tradition of humanism. It provides a significant analysis of activist interventions that not only disrupt the so-called crisis but also facilitate alternative horizons of solidarity and hope and contribute to solidaristic social movements. Europe's Migration Crisis is powerfully argued, deeply compassionate, and indispensable reading for scholars of migration and refugees.' Suzan Ilcan, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo and Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada

Rejecting claims that migration is a crisis for Europe, this book instead suggests that the 'migration crisis' reflects a more fundamental breakdown of a modern European tradition of humanism. Squire provides a detailed and broad-ranging analysis of the EU's response to the 'crisis', highlighting the centrality of practices of governing migration through death and precarity. Furthermore, she unpacks a series of pro-migration activist interventions that emerge from the lived experiences of those regularly confronting the consequences of the EU's response. By showing how these advance alternative horizons of solidarity and hope, Squire draws attention to a renewed humanism that is grounded both in a deepened respect for the lives and dignity of people on the move, and an appreciation of longer histories of violence and dispossession. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers working on migration in political science, international relations, European studies, law and sociology.

Part I. The Production of Death and Vulnerability: 1. Crisis politics: The production of death and vulnerability
2. Biophysical violence and ultra-precarity: The normalisation of death and vulnerability
3. Human dignity: The pervasiveness of death and vulnerability
Part II. The Production of Solidarity and Hope: 4. Corridoi Umanitari: Dignity in motion and a politics of welcome
5. Sea-Watch: Dignity in Danger and a Politics of Witness
6. Grave dressing: Dignity in death and a politics of responsibility
References
Index.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], International humanitarian law [LBBS], Armed conflict [JPWS], International relations [JPS], Migration, immigration & emigration [JFFN]