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 of research. In fact, Africa, if one were to simplify the continent's intentions, is depicted as aspiring to the exact opposite of Europe, namely open borders (with the African Union aspiring to free movement within the continent) and protected markets (protected from Western corporate predatory strategies). Moreover, contrary to the narrative of aid according to which the West "helps develop" Africa, the figures quoted by the authors suggest the opposite: while Sub-Saharan Africa receives $134 billion a year in development funding, $192 billions flow out of Africa, with $46 billion in profit for major corporations and another $35 billion vanishing in tax havens (218). The USA is divided around the wall President Trump wants to build along the Mexican border. Europe has long answered this question at its own southern border: put up that wall but don't make it look like one. Today the EU is trying to close as many deals as it can with African states, making it harder and harder for refugees to find protection and more dangerous for labour migrants to reach places where they can earn an income. But this is not the only effect: the more Europe tries to control migration from Africa, the harder it becomes for many Africans to move freely through their own continent, even within their own countries.
Baldwiin, Lydia: - "
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.
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Jacob, Christian: -
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.
Schlindwein, Simone: - "
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.
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