Transnational Mobility and Externalization of EU Borders: Social Work, Migration Management, and Resistance

Transnational Mobility and Externalization of EU Borders: Social Work, Migration Management and Resistance addresses the topics of social work and international migration, with specific focus on the consequences of EU border externalization policies. The increasingly authoritarian character of EU border management raises a number of issues related to the role of social work within a context that is heavily charged, both ideologically and politically. After theoretically and historically contextualizing externalization with explicit attention to (neo)colonial genealogies of the current migration regimes, this book examines the complex inter-relations of social workers with key actors, namely mobile people, policy makers or funders. Particular attention is paid to the socio-economic and political impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic on social work with variously categorized people moving across borders or immobilized incamps. Finally, the book explores how social workers and refugees resist violent migration controls and increasing criminalization of cross-border movements. This volume brings together contributions located in the so-called countries of origin and transit targeted by EU externalization interventions, as well as EU countries, in which social workers deal with the effects of border externalization and internalization.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Petra Danková, Robel Afeworki Abay, Nikos Xypolytas, Tanja Kleibl Part I: Theoretical Engagements and Historical Contexts Chapter 1. A Critical Analysis of the Role of Social Work in the Context of Displacement and Forced Migration, Norbert Frieters-Reermann Chapter 2. Socialist Yugoslavia and Circuits of Decolonial Affinity: Social Policy, Migration and the Non-Aligned Movement, Paul Stubbs Chapter 3. Depoliticizing Refugees: How a Western World's Favorite Intellectual and Political Game Takes Place and its Alternatives, Nikos Xypolytas and Michalis Psimitis Chapter 4. Who is Responsible for Whom in the Age of Globalisation? An Analysis on the Normative Dimension of the Problematisation of Migration of Brazilian Women, Diana Marciele Kerber Part II: Entanglements of Social Work and Externalisation of EU Migration Regimes Chapter 5. Working Categories: Categorization Dilemmas at the Intersection of Social Work and Mobility in Nigeria, Petra Danková Chapter 6. Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration in The Gambia: Aid Workers and Returnees as Implementers and Contesters of Humanitarian Borderwork, Viola Castellano Chapter 7. Social Work and The Challenge of Promoting Human Rights: Reflections on The Situation of Migrants and Refugees in The Western Mediterranean and West African Routes, Emilio J Gómez- Ciriano, Sergio Barciela Fernández Part III: Covid-19, Migration Management and Social Work Chapter 8. The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Migrants’ Integration Path in Italy, Roberta T. Di Rosa Chapter 9. Social Work in a Berlin Shelter for Mobile People during the Outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic – a Crisis for Professionalism? Alexandra Kattein Chapter 10. Overview On the Human Rights of International Migrants in Mexico During the ‘Fourth Transformation’: The Case Of Puebla, Guillermo Yrizar Barbosa Part IV: Resistance and Collective Action Chapter 11. A Critical View of Humanitarian Aid in the Context of the Refugee Camp on Lesvos and Possibilities of a Liberating Practice, Jessica Washburn Chapter 12. Human Rights Overboard: Shrinking Spaces for Civil Sea Rescue In The Central Mediterranean Sea, Theresa Becker Chapter 13. Exploration of Refugee Resistance in the Light of Asymmetrical Power Relations: Examples of Refugee Resistance in Europe, Eva Maria Greber About the Authors

About the Author :
Petra Danková is professor of International Social Work at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg–Schweinfurt. Robel Afeworki Abay is guest professor of participatory approaches in social and health sciences at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Nikos Xypolytas is assistant professor at the University of the Aegean. Tanja Kleibl holds a research chair in Participatory Action Research at the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt.

Review :
This book is overdue and an indispensable read for any migration researchers, lecturers or social workers involved into working with refugees or migrants. The different chapters in this book highlight the urgent need to resist when institutional policies and regulations endanger human rights of people on the move. This very timely reading sheds light on some of the most pressing human rights abuses people on the move experience on their search for a better, secure and save life for themselves and their loved ones. Drawing on a variety of cases, the chapters address border externalization not only in specific geographical, economic and social contexts but also delve into the interwoven global postcolonial legacy along with the continuous racism and oppression. The critical contributions in this volume are relevant to scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners alike. This wide-ranging – both historically and geographically - co-edited volume places attention on the myriad ambiguities of social work with in the context of the EU migration regime. With detailed case studies including Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programmes in The Gambia, anti-trafficking initiatives in Nigeria and refugee camps in Berlin and Lesvos, the book draws out and deconstructs some of the overly Eurocentric framings of externalisation policies. This book will be of great interest to social work students and all those looking to enhance their understanding of the complexities of social work in the grey area of migration management and the potential for practices of resistance to emerge. This book offers valuable critical insight into the complexities of social work with migrants in a variety of settings within an increasingly hostile socio-political landscape. This is particularly valid at a time of increasing EU border militarization and externalisation policies.