Migration Conundrums Regional Integration And Development

This book examines Africa-Europe relationships and intra-Africa relationships vis-à-vis migration. It analyses the African integration project that is being used to effectively manage migration within Africa and across its RECs, and harnessing it for development. The book presents debates related to the EU’s hardening and securitisation of its external border against migrants from Africa. It shows that migration actually challenges Africa-European relations, which is discussed as an important theme in this book. Authors in this book volume investigate several issues ranging from conundrums relating to migration between Africa and Europe to migration within Africa, but also in relation to borders and boundaries, its bearing on regional and continental integration and the significance of this in terms of relations between Africa and Europe. This book volume brings into conversation issues relating to the governance of migration for development, social cohesion and regional integration.

This topical volume deals with the major challenges of migration in the Global South and their governance, which are traditionally much less considered than migration to industrialized countries and its consequences. It is written in view of the intergovernmental agreement of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations in 2016, and one of the major recent events in international migration governance. Written by authors with a sound academic background and professional involvement in policy relevant research, this volume focuses on priorities in implementation of the Global Compact in the Global South. It is addressed to a broad readership interested or involved in international migration governance, development studies, and regional studies, from a research as well as a policy perspective.

This book explores the processes of migration and integration within the West African sub-region and unearths subsisting promises and failures of the ECOWAS' intent of transmuting the sub-region into a single socio-economic (and political) entity.

This book examines social, economic and political issues in West, Eastern and Southern Africa in relation to borders, human mobility and regional integration. In the process, it highlights the innovative aspects of human agency on the African continent, and presents a range of empirical case studies that shed new light on Africa’s social, economic and political realities. Further, the book explores cooperation between African nation-states, including their historical socioeconomic interconnections and governance of transboundary natural resources. Moreover, the book examines the relationship between the spatial mobility of borders and development, and the migration regimes of nation-states that share contiguous borders in different geographic territories. Further topics include the coloniality of borders, sociocultural and ethnic relations, and the impact of physical borders on human mobility and wellbeing. Given its scope, the book represents a unique resource that offers readers a wealth of new insights into today’s Africa.

This comparative book debates migration and regional integration in the two regional economic blocs, namely the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The book takes a historical and nuanced citizenship approach to integration by analysing regional integration from the perspective of non-state actors and how they negotiate various structures and institutions in their pursuit for life and livelihood in a contemporary context marked by mobility and economic fragmentation.

This book discusses regional and continental integration in Africa by examining the management of migration across the continent. It examines borders and securitisation of migration and the challenges and opportunities that arise out of reconfigured continental demographics. The book offers insights on intra-Africa migrations and highlights how intra-continental migration creates socio-economic and cultural borders. It explores how these borders, beyond the physical boundaries of states, including the Berlin Conference-constructed borders, create cultural divides, challenges for economic integration and cross-border security, and irregular migration patterns. While the movement of economic goods is valued for regional economic integration, the mobility of people is seen as a threat. This approach to migration contradicts the intentions of true integration and development, and triggers negative responses such as xenophobia that cannot be addressed by simply managing the physical border and allowing free movement. This book engages in a pivotal discussion of these issues, which are hitherto missing in African border studies, by demonstrating the ubiquity and overreaching influence of various kinds of borders on the African continent. With multidisciplinary contributions that provide an in-depth understanding of intra-Africa migrations and strategies for enhanced migration management, this book will be a useful resource for scholars and students studying geography, politics, security studies, development studies, African studies and sociology.

The Paradox of Planetary Human Entanglements provides a nuanced understanding of the complexity of planetary human entanglements in this age of increased borderisation and territorialisation, racism and xenophobia, and inclusion and exclusion. One of the greatest paradoxes of the 21st century is that of increased planetary human entanglements enabled by globalisation on the one hand and by the rising tide of exclusionary right-wing politics of racism, xenophobia, and the building of walled states on the other. The characteristic feature of this paradox is the unrestrained move towards the detention and incarceration of those who attempt to migrate. This brings to the fore the issue of borders in terms of their materiality and symbolism and how this mediates belonging, citizenship, and the ethics (or lack thereof) and politics of living together. This book shows that at the core of border and migration restrictions is the desire to exclude certain categories of people, which aptly demonstrates that borders in their materiality are not for everyone but for those who are considered undesirable migrants. The authors examine questions of borders, nationalism, migration, immigration, and belonging, setting the basis of a campaign for planetary humanism grounded on human dignity, which transcends ethnicity and nationality. This book will be a useful resource for students, scholars, and researchers of African Studies, Border Studies, Migration Studies, Development Studies, International Studies, Black Studies, International Relations, and Political Science.