Dictators as Gatekeepers for Europe: Outsourcing EU Border Controls to Africa - Paperback

by Christian Jakob (Author)

Dictators as Gatekeepers for Europe is a detailed journalistic account of how the EU is attempting to limit mobility within the African continent as a matter of the EU's domestic policy agenda, hence the title hinting at the many agreements (with Turkey, Libya, Sudan) aimed at blocking migrants from approaching the European continent. The new "Berlin Wall" not only encircles Europe, but also generates a proliferation of militarised borders in Africa. ...To summarise, the authors argue, Europe desires protected borders and open markets. The novelty is the amount of material that this book contains about African desires and strategies, both as a continent and as single states. This, in particular, makes the work a collection of extremely valuable directions in research.

Author Biography

Christian Jakob: Born in 1979, studied sociology economics philosophy in Bremen and Milan; global studies in Berlin, Buenos Aires and Delhi. Editor for the daily tageszeitung (taz) since 2006, reporter since 2014. In 2017 he won the media project award together with Simone Schlindwein and Daniél Kretschmar from the Otto Brenner Foundation for the Migration Control research project, on which this book is based. In 2016 he published 'Die Bleibenden' (Ch. Links) a history of the refugee movement in Germany. In 2018/19 he contributed to the 'Civil Society Atlas' (Bread for the World) and to the 'Atlas of Migration' (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation). In 2019 he will publish 'Angriff auf Europa' (Ch. Links) a book about the international assault on Europe from the far right with M. Gürgen, P. Hecht and S. am Orde. Christian Jakob's Twitter handle is @chrjkb.

Simone Schlindwein: Born in 1980; Eastern European studies from 2006-2008; Moscow correspondent for Der Spiegel. Based in Uganda since 2008 she has been a correspondent for the German daily tageszeitung (taz) from the Great Lakes region: DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan. Won the 2016 journalism award 'Der lange Atem' for her research into the Rwandan Hutu militia FDLR in DR Congo and Germany and her resulting book 'Tatort Kongo - Prozess in Deutschland.' In 2017 she won the media project award together with Christian Jakob and Daniél Kretschmar from the Otto Brenner Foundation for the Migration Control research project, on which this book is based.

Lydia Baldwin has been active in Berlin since 2008 in theater-making, storytelling, body music and improvisational singing.In schools, KiTas and community spaces, Lydia works with participants from age 3 to adult, co-creating original, biographical and traditionally-inspired performance projects. An earlier life on the USA's West Coast and further studies in Berlin led to the long-term project "Querzaehlen" - Exploring and expanding stories about crossing lines and other outlandish acts.