Corinna Mullin
Introduction
This report explores the structural dynamics and mechanisms through which imperialist border governance agents – including the EU and the US via NATO and the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), the Pentagon’s outpost in Africa – attempt to maintain control over the Mediterranean. It examines the historical roots and political economy of border-making and border violence in the Mediterranean and Maghreb region.
Chapter 1 offers a historical and conceptual overview of colonial border-making and anti-colonial re-imaginings. It sets out how, in addition to their brute violence, the power of (neo)colonial borders lies in their being seen as natural. Contrary to their representation in mainstream media and academia, borders have not always existed in their current form and in fact have transformed the centuries-old fluidity of human movement, identities and socio-economic exchanges in the Maghreb, creating rigid structures that are designed to fragment, capture and facilitate accumulation. This chapter also explores the structural effects of border imperialism, focusing in particular on unequal exchange, super-exploitation, and the global reserve army of labour.
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