MORENO LAX Violeta & PERKOWSKI Nina - EU Borders, Asylum and Migration Policies : A Critical Perspective (25h)
The course engages in a multi-disciplinary examination of the European Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ), paying particular attention to the position of third-country nationals by focusing on the EU’s policies on borders, asylum, and migration. Co-taught by a legal and a social science scholar, the course provides students with both institutional and regulatory expertise as well as theoretical frameworks to understand how EU borders, asylum, and migration policies operate and impact diverse communities. The course adopts a critical approach throughout to the evaluation of the relevant instruments and discourses, unpacking them from anti-securitarian, feminist, and decolonial perspectives, providing tools to deconstruct prevailing frames and narratives.
The course begins with a general introduction to the history of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), by placing cooperation in this field within its wider political context, emphasising its relationship with the establishment of a Single Market and the EU as an area without internal frontiers for the realisation of trans-national freedom of movement. It then examines the rapid evolution of EU competences and institutional arrangements and the effect these have had on the formulation and expansion of law and policy in relation to borders, migration, and asylum. The course continues with an in-depth assessment of the main components of these policies, in both their internal and external facets, taking into consideration the role of security and technology. Attention is paid to the decision-making processes, the body of legislation and its implementation, as well as the impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in shaping policy responses. The rise of new agencies, especially Frontex, and their role as internal and external players in the JHA framework is also explored.
Professor: Violeta MORENO-LAX & Nina PERKOWSKI