CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Crcha, Jakub |
|---|---|
| Title | Violence at the EU External Border: Locating the Legal and Operational Mechanisms Underpinning the "World's Deadliest Border Regime" |
| Summary | This thesis is an investigation of the legal construction of the EU border as a site of violence. By looking at the EU regulations, Frontex operational documents, and testimonies of violence, the thesis identifies a set of mechanisms through which border violence is legitimised and made acceptable within the political and ideological framework of the EU. There are two main ways in which EU border violence is written in relation to the EU. On one hand, a significant proportion of accountability over border violence is ‘outsourced’ onto various non-EU actors through a set of legal and political mechanisms. On the other hand, a large part of the violent nature of the EU border regime is legitimised through legal and operational mechanisms that create a space for Frontex (as the centralised EU border agency) to engage in violent and brutal practices, both openly as well and covertly, during its operations. I argue that instead of viewing the border violence as either structural or spectacular, the EU border can be understood as a ‘violent regime’. In other words, in this thesis I attempt to grasp the violent in everyday life while allowing the space for the spectacular/exceptional that occasionally requires heightened politicisation. Linking these arguments to an analysis of the details of the legal formulation of the EU external border and the politics of its maintenance, I argue that the violent happenings at the EU border are an integral part of its envisioned function; and thus constitute a site where the core dynamics of the project of Modern Europe manifest themselves with abhorrent brutality. |
| Supervisor | Rajaram, Prem Kumar; Sopranzetti, Claudio |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/crcha_jakub.pdf |
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