Renationalization and spaces of migration

Abstract

The migrations to Europe of the year 2015 have emphasized the tensions inherent to the European border and migration regime. With the closure of the so-called Balkan Route, the continuing migrations across the Central Mediterranean, and the tensions they cause, have come into focus. The authors offer an analysis of the post-2015 European border regime through the exploration of a border conflict at the village of Brennero, situated at the Italian-Austrian border. They begin by sketching out theoretical and methodological underpinnings of Ethnographic Border and Migration Regime Analysis. They describe the key tensions within the European border regime and how they form the context of the border conflict at Brennero, even though they take place in very different regional settings. From this analysis the authors derive conclusions on how this particular route of migration forms a peculiar political space within the European Union, an example of the space-making character of migration.