Migrations In The Mediterranean

The upheavals of the Arab Spring grabbed the world’s immediate attention, and concern quickly grew over their potential aftermath, with the fear that a ‘tidal wave’ of immigrants and refugees would ‘flood’ European territory. The Arab Spring has highlighted the Mediterranean as a migration region, and new research is now required to bring to light too often neglected mobility patterns and border practices that predate and outlast the tumultuous spring of 2011. The edited volume Space, Mobility and Borders in the Western Mediterranean tackles these contemporary issues related to migration in the Mediterranean region. It brings together high-quality, original academic contributions from both empirical and theoretical points of view by scholars from diverse disciplines, who draw upon Anglophone, Francophone, Spanish and Italian research. It reexamines borders in the light of a now full-blown body of literature that seeks to capture the complexity of their contemporary features beyond their most direct visual enactments, in particular the sweeping deployment of policing devices and operations along the North/South fault line. Another distinctive binding thread in this book is that it emphasizes migrants as active subjects interacting with local events, national policies and the bordering process. Offering an examination of the intricate interplay among the events of the Arab Spring, migration’s multiple types and actors, and the evolving relationship between migration control and borders in the region, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars of migration studies, European Union Studies and Mediterranean Studies.

Critically analyses how institutional actors interact on the international scene in the control and management of migration in the Mediterranean.

This open access Regional Reader describes population movement circulating within the Mediterranean area, for any reason or from any region, be them European, African, Asian or originating from any of the Mediterranean shores. It showcases a plurality of approaches to and applications of Mediterranean migration, contributing to a regional approach to migration, thereby defending this regional approach by scaling Mediterranean migration issues. This book covers a large set of questions related to the migration research agenda, such as: market and economy, politics and policies, super-diversity and intersectionality, media, society, welfare and the environment through five main parts: Geo-political Mediterranean Relations, Governance, Policies and Politics, Mobility drivers and Agency, Cities, History and Social Transformations, and Economy and Labour Markets. This Regional Reader provides an interesting read to scholars, researchers, but also policy makers and civil society organizations’ high representatives, international foundations and institutions interested in linking the Mediterranean and migration.

This book is focused on the transcultural memory of the Mediterranean region and the different ways it is articulated by contemporary art practices and museum projects linked to migrations, exile, diaspora and transnationality. The artistic and curatorial examples analysed in this study articulate a critical relationship between the cultural representations and the sense of heritage, property and belonging, offering the opportunity of a more problematic and stimulating vision of the preservation of the European arts, traditions and histories. Artists and projects examined include the project Porto M in Lampedusa, Zineb Sedira, Ursula Biemann, Lara Baladi, Mona Hatoum, Emily Jacir, Kader Attia and Walid Raad.

Migration in the Mediterranean region is a widely debated and much studied topic. This is due to the present refugee crisis, consequences of Arab revolutions, the proximity with emigration and transit countries, but also to the involvement of southern European countries and the mass arrival of migrants. The management of Border controls, migration, development, human trafficking, human rights and the clash or convergence of civilizations has generated a great deal of controversy and media attention. Migration in the Mediterranean offers a unique multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological framework, bringing together scholars from different subject areas. This book aims to address the following research questions: What are the main characteristics of migration movements in this region? What are the most important theoretical challenges? What are the perspectives for the future? This book begins with an overview of the economic perspective of the Mediterranean migration model, with a particular focus on labour market outcomes of migrants. It then presents the original results of field studies on the unintended effects of the EU's external border controls on migration and integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region, before addressing the themes of mobility, migration and transnationalism. This volume focuses on migration with a multidisciplinary approach, with scholars from various areas including sociology, economics, geography, political science and history. This book is well suited for those who study international economics, migration and political sociology.

In recent years, Mediterranean agriculture has experienced important transformations which have led to new forms of labour and production, and in particular to a surge in the recruitment of migrant labour. The Mediterranean Basin represents a very interesting arena that is able to illustrate labour conditions and mobility, the competition among different farming models, and the consequences in terms of the proletarianization process, food crisis and diet changes. Migration and Agriculture brings together international contributors from across several disciplines to describe and analyse labour conditions and international migrations in relation to agri-food restructuring processes. This unique collection of articles connects migration issues with the proletarianization process and agrarian transitions that have affected Southern European as well as some Middle Eastern and Northern African countries in different ways. The chapters present case studies from a range of territories in the Mediterranean Basin, offering empirical data and theoretical analysis in order to grasp the complexity of the processes that are occurring. This book offers a uniquely comprehensive overview of migrations, territories and agro-food production in this key region, and will be an indispensable resource to scholars in migration studies, rural sociology, social geography and the political economy of agriculture.

The post-Cold War period made a new concept of security imperative: it encompasses environmental, social, economical, political and military issues. Migration as a civilizational phenomenon, albeit transitional, goes across this entire spectrum, particularly in a varied historical milieu as the Euro Mediterranean region is. In turn, reforms and changes need to be carried out by South Mediterranean states and societies, in order to eliminate some of the obstacles to modernization, creating conditions for economic development at home with the help of North Mediterranean countries. Another package of reforms in European countries should empower migrants to adopt a more active citizenship and become more integrated in the societies where they choose to live. For Khachani, one of the editors of the book, a demystification of the question of migratory risk is in order to foster an improved dialogue between south Europe countries and North Africa countries. Sending countries are affected by political crises, socio-economic instability, and illegal migration from North Africa; receiving countries practice discrimination in labour market and social space.

"The Mediterranean Sea has always been a route for migration. For centuries caravans have crossed its waters for the most diverse reasons: commerce, war, pilgrimage, cultural exchange, etc. In the last decades, these same waters constitute the scenery of what appears as a never ending tragedy, irregular migration and the thousands of related deaths. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2014 has been so far the deadliest year for the Mediterranean, with nearly 1,900 migrants lost their lives, compared to the 700 recorded in 2013 and about 500 recorded in 2012"--