We are All Africans Here: Race, Mobilities and West Africans in Europe

by Kristín Loftsdóttir

Overview

Europe is often described as "flooded" by migrants or by Muslim "others," with Western African men especially portrayed as a security risk. At the same time the intensified mobility of privileged people in the Global North is celebrated as creating an increasingly cosmopolitan world. This book looks critically at racialization of mobility in Europe, anchoring the discussion in the aspiration of precarious migrants from Niger in Belgium and Italy. The book contextualizes their experiences within the ongoing securitization of mobility in their home country and the persistent denial of racism and colonialism that seeks to portray the innocence of Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800733282
Publisher:	Berghahn Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/10/2021
Series:	Worlds in Motion , #10
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Kristín Loftsdóttir is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland. Her publications include Crisis and Coloniality at Europe’s Margins: Creating Exotic Iceland (Routledge, 2019).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: Making Precarious Migrants

Chapter 1. Living in Divided Europe: The Theme Park and the Street
Chapter 2. “Enough of Refugees”: Depictions of Precarious Migrants in Europe
Chapter 3. Into the Heart of Europe: Migrants in Brussels and Beyond
Chapter 4. Global Citizens and the Backstage
Chapter 5. Multicultural Europe: Invasions against European Values?

Part II: Entangled Histories

Chapter 6. This is All in the Past Now: Niger and a Global World
Chapter 7. Nostalgic Colonialism: Different Kinds of Otherness
Chapter 8. Spaces of Innocence: Belgium’s Colonial History and Beyond

Part III: Europe’s Past and Future

Chapter 9. The Heart of Darkness: EUrope as a Concept

Conclusion: Welcome to the Future: Dismaland and Anxieties in Europe

References
Index

Editorial Reviews

“Through poignant vignettes captured along her research trajectory, Loftsdóttir provides a thoughtful discussion of various conceptual considerations of mobility… Overall, the book presents a nuanced discussion of contemporary migration dynamics in a (post-)racialized world. The author consistently reminds us that African migrants are to be understood on their terms; the desire to migrate to Europe does not exist in a vacuum and is the result of a plethora of socio-economic factors.” • Ethnic and Racial Studies

“Loftsdóttir offers an innovative ethnographic and theoretical contribution that eloquently bridges the lived experiences of precarious Nigerien men and West Africans in general in Europe with nuanced theoretical analyses of Europe as a concept, race, and mobility.” • Scott M. Youngstedt, Saginaw Valley State University

“A ruminative, holistic treatment of a number of interconnected subjects related to globalization, migration, mobility, race, ethnicity, and indigeneity, Europe’s colonial history and its past and current entanglements with Africa.” • Liz Fekete, Director, Institute of Race Relations

From the Publisher