Tracking the civilising mission’s continuities in externalised migration controls: a critical analysis of EU cooperation with third countries

Abstract

A critical perspective on EU externalisation policy reveals how cooperation on migration perpetuates key features of the ‘civilising mission’. This article focuses on the EU-Turkey, EU-Afghanistan, and Italy-Libya cooperation agreements as cornerstones of the EU racialised mobility regime. It shows how these frameworks legitimise externalised controls as a form of benevolence towards Third World migrants and states, and how the EU allocates the responsibility to deal with migration to its partners while keeping its status as a humanitarian actor.