University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Dreaming of seamless borders: ICTs and the pre-emptive governance of mobility in Europe

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 13:50 authored by Dennis Broeders, James HampshireJames Hampshire
A recent trend in migration policy in Europe is the increased use of ICTs for border control purposes. A growing academic literature explains the digitisation of border controls as an instance of post-9/11 securitization of migration policy. This paper re-examines why European states are digitising their border controls, and then explores how ‘pre-emptive mobility governance’ works. Although security imperatives play a role in accelerating digitisation, a securitization framing obscures continuities with pre-9/11 practices and underplays other policy drivers. Pre-emptive mobility governance is best characterised as a digital-era version of ‘remote control’, and is shaped by other organizational and political rationales: first, instrumental beliefs about the efficiency gains of border technologies; second, their symbolic role in the context of the domestic politicization of immigration. The paper then considers how ICTs are reshaping the tools of mobility governance, enabling three distinct modes of pre-emptive detection and effect: black, grey and green-listing.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

ISSN

1369-183X

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

8

Volume

39

Page range

1201-1218

Department affiliated with

  • Politics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-03-15

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC