Episode 7: EU-Africa Cooperation & its Discontents
In this episode, Amanda Bisong of the European Centre for Development Policy Management considers both sides of this argument. Tracing the contemporary history of EU-Africa ‘cooperation’ in the field of migration to the establishment of the Schengen Area, she maps its drivers, dynamics and consequences for Africa – intended and unintended.
Drawing upon extensive research and close observation of EU policy in West Africa in particular, Amanda Bisong analyzes the direction of migration diplomacy since the so-called migration ‘crisis’ of 2015. Reflecting on contradictions and imbalances, she offers policymakers in Europe and Africa recommendations and considers future prospects for a change in direction.
Speaker Bio
Amanda Bisong is a Policy officer in the AU – EU relations and migration and mobility workstreams of ECDPM, Maastricht, The Netherlands. She has a background in Law and Master degrees in International Law and Economics and International Trade Policy and Trade Law. Her focus research areas are on migration agreements, labour migration, exploring the linkages between trade and migration in Africa, migration governance and the interplay between regional and national commitments.
Further Reading:
Franzisca Zanker, “Managing or restricting movement? Diverging approaches of African and European migration governance” (2019) Comparative Migration Studies 7 (17)
Exploring the Politics of Migration through Ideas is a podcast series that examines the past, present, and possible futures of migration within and from the African continent. It seeks to forge a new discussion around African migration in Europe and the West, but also within Africa itself: one that foregrounds African knowledge, lived experience, and political thought towards a humane and socially just order of mobility. Hosted by African Arguments and the Heinrich Boll Foundation’s African Migration Hub.