Failing through

European migration governance across the central Mediterranean

Bibliographic Data

ID7843533
AuthorsEugenio Cusumano (0000-0002-7349-6639), Marianne Riddervold (0000-0003-3010-8031)
Year2023
Volume49
Issue12
Pages3024-3042
Publication date2023-07-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2023.2193713
OpenAlexW4381926500
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited40

Both today and under Gaddafi's authoritarian rule, externalised migration controls have played a crucial role in EUropean irregular mobility governance across the Central Mediterranean. Offloading migration management on Tripoli is puzzling due to the fragility of its institutions, the ill-preparedness of its security forces, and widespread abuse against migrants. Why have European member states and EU institutions relapsed to relying on Libyan forces to govern irregular migration? In this paper, we argue that the EU has failed through the migration crisis in the Central Mediterranean by drawing on already established albeit ineffective and contentious policy tools. The collapse of Libya's state apparatus, European Court of Human Rights' censure of Italy's illegal pushbacks and public opinion pressure temporarily displaced but did not fundamentally change EUrope's restrictive approach to irregular mobility governance. While some new and less restrictive border enforcement policies were developed in response to the soaring death toll, this humanitarian turn was short-lived. By combining the mechanism of failing forward with institutionalist insights, our concept of failing through explains why the EU and its member states soon backslid into pre-existing institutional arrangements like bilateral agreements with Libyan authorities notwithstanding their problematic legal, ethical and political implications

Authoritarianism · Business · Corporate governance · Democracy · Development economics · Economic geography · Economics · European union · International trade · Irregular migration · Member state · Member states · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Preparedness · Sociology · State (computer science · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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