“Looking for One’s Life”

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Bachelet
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
The Face ◽  
Transit Migration ◽  
West And Central Africa ◽  
Migration Crisis

This article examines how “irregular” migrants from West and Central Africa make sense of their trapped mobility in Morocco: for many, crossing into Europe has become almost impossible, returning to home countries “empty-handed” a shameful option, and staying very difficult in the face of repeated infringement of their rights. I explore the limits of contemporary depictions of a “migration crisis” that portray migrants south of the Mediterranean Sea as simply en route to Europe and fail to engage with (post)colonial entanglements. The article recalibrates the examinationof migrants’ lived experiences of stasis and mobility by exploring the emic notion of “adventure” among migrants “looking for their lives.” A focus on how migrants articulate their own (im)mobility further exposes and defies the pitfalls of abstract concepts such as “transit migration,” which is misleading in its implication of a fixed destination.

The Historical, Economic, and Political Bases of France's African Policy

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Martin
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Western World ◽  
Fifth Republic ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
West And Central Africa ◽  
Informal Relations

A Quarter of a century has elapsed since France granted independence to her former colonies in West and Central Africa. Yet to this day, France continues to wield considerable power and influence in these countries politically, economically, socially, and culturally, thanks to a tightly-knit network of formal and informal relations. France's African policy has been remarkably constant and stable through the various successive governments of the Fifth Republic. How can this persistent situation of dominance/dependency and this continuity in foreign policy be accounted for? More specifically, the present study tries to analyse the main characteristics and essential mechanisms of France/s post-colonial policy in Africa, all too often shrouded under a veil of secrecy, albeit premised on a number of historical factors for its ideological foundation. On this basis, a variety of economic and political interests have been developed which constitute the main elements of this policy and its principal explanatory variables. Eventually, it is concluded that a neo-colonial strategy has been adopted in order to preserve a status quo that is clearly favourable to the conservative interests of the western world in general, and to France in particular.

scholarly journals Managing the Unmanageable? Understanding Europe's Response to the Migration ‘Crisis’

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heaven Crawley
Keyword(s):  
Research Evidence ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Current State ◽  
Common Response ◽  
West And Central Africa ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
To Come ◽  
Political Solidarity

More than 1 million people have crossed the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas since January 2015, arriving on the beaches of Southern Europe in dinghies and rickety boats, having paid a smuggler to facilitate their journey. Most are refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, and Somalia who are fleeing conflict and violence. Others are migrants from West and Central Africa, seeking a livelihood and a future for themselves and their families. This paper will unpack the evolution of the European policy response, arguing that the migration ‘crisis’ is not a reflection of numbers – which pale into insignificance relative to the number of refugees in other countries outside Europe or to those moving in and out of Europe on tourist, student and work visas – but rather a crisis of political solidarity. After five emergency summits to agree a common response, EU politicians are still struggling to come to terms with the dynamics of migration to Europe, the complexity of motivations driving people forward, the role of different institutions, including governments, international organizations, NGOs and civil society, in facilitating the journey, and the ways in which social media is providing individuals and families with information about the options and possibilities that are, or are not, available to them. I suggest that the unwillingness of politicians and policymakers to engage with research evidence on the dynamics of migration and to harness their combined resources to address the consequences of conflict and underdevelopment elsewhere, speaks more strongly to the current state of the European Union than it does to the realities of contemporary migration.

Óscar Romero and the Politics of Sainthood

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-291
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Vasquez ◽  
Anna L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
The Other ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Holy See ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Face ◽  
Crisis Of Modernity ◽  
The One

In this article, we explore the debates surrounding the proposed canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken defender of human rights and the poor during the civil war in El Salvador, who was assassinated in March 1980 by paramilitary death squads while saying Mass. More specifically, we examine the tension between, on the one hand, local and popular understandings of Romero’s life and legacy and, on the other hand, transnational and institutional interpretations. We argue that the reluctance of the Vatican to advance Romero’s canonization process has to do with the need to domesticate and “privatize” his image. This depoliticization of Romero’s work and teachings is a part of a larger agenda of neo-Romanization, an attempt by the Holy See to redeploy a post-colonial and transnational Catholic regime in the face of the crisis of modernity and the advent of postmodern relativism. This redeployment is based on the control of local religious expressions, particularly those that advocate for a more participatory church, which have proliferated with contemporary globalization

Giant Tree Frog diversification in West and Central Africa: isolation by physical barriers, climate, and reproductive traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle E. Jaynes ◽  
Edward A. Myers ◽  
Václav Gvoždík ◽  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Daniel M. Portik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
West And Central Africa
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