Epilogue

Abstract

Europeans now realize that their waters no longer protect ‘fortress Europe’ from uncontrolled African immigration. In response, European governments attempting to constrict the flow of African migrants toward Europe have created bottlenecks far from the Mediterranean borderlands themselves, through a process called ‘externalization.’ EurAfrican borders: Places, Spaces, Lives looks at migration with reference to the EU’s externalized migration management and control of its southern borders. The contributions in this volume highlight the African dimensions of externalization; how border policies promoted by the EU not only reach and penetrate Africa, but also become entangled in African contexts and are shaped by the longer history of Euro-African relationships. As much at issue are the contradictions between European post-War values of liberal humanism that dictate that ‘genuine’ refugees be given asylum, while those ‘simply’ fleeing poverty can be screened for desirability and if not desired, excluded. So has Africa at its borders become an encapsulation of the vectors and polarities of late capitalist modernity as a whole. Externalization is here to stay for the foreseeable future, but whether nervous, insecure states or restless humanity will establish de facto sovereignty over Europe’s borders with Africa remains a defining question of our times.