Etienne Balibar: Borderland Europe and the Challenge of Migration

We tend to think that the external limits of the European Union define the ‘real’ borders of Europe, which is a mistake. Confronted with the violent obscene images that have been reaching us ever since the influx of refugees More

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Judith Dellheim

Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Referentin Solidarische Ökonomie

One thought on “Etienne Balibar: Borderland Europe and the Challenge of Migration”

  1. We want to underline the following tree ideas: “… a border is not what a state ‘decides’ it is in terms of power relations and negotiations with other states but what the global context dictates.”(1) ” … what is the most effective and the most civil (not to say ‘civilized’) way to govern a permanent state of emergency in which borders that we inherited or added are either beginning to collapse unless they become continuously fortified and militarized?”(2) “There is thus no way around these two alternatives: either social security for all or ‘insecurity of identity’ and thriving nationalism which bring about the breakdown of the collective security system that has so long been sought and fought for as well as the destitution of the ‘European idea’ itself.
    The irony of it all, however, is that part of the solution is within reach: thisA necessary minimum would be achieved by 1) an official declaration on the ‘state of humanitarian urgency’ on the entire ‘territory’ under the auspices of the European Commission, 2) the binding commitment of all EU member states to treat refugees with dignity and equity from each according to their objectively measurable ability.” (3)

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