Contesting Europeanness at the Aegean border: a contrapuntal reading

Abstract

to be undergoing a rupture. The von der Leyen European Commission has proclaimed a geopolitical EU, which seems difficult to reconcile with its previous identity. This raises the question: How is the process of identity formation currently unfolding in the European Union? To address this question, the article focuses on migration policy, which has become a central political discourse and practice in the constitution, production and main- tenance of European identity. Using the broader Aegean borderland and the 2020 migration crisis as case studies, it contrapuntally examines: 1) how policymakers, civil society and refugees have provided contesting identifications with Europe; 2) how such identifications are bundled and stabilised in – and experienced through – policies; and 3) which alternatives might destabilise them. The study finds that the EU as deterrence emerges as a dominant articulation by EU policymakers, although it is audibly contested by European civil society organisationsí articulation of the EU as liberal and rules-based. The notions of EU as deterrence and the EU as liberal and rules-based are intertwined with the EU as humanitarian compassion by policymakers and civil society. Nonetheless, EU as deterrence dominates the experience of refugees. Humanitarian compassion is somewhat experienced by refugees, but the EU as liberal and rules-based is scarcely evident. Refugees also articulate an alternative, namely the EU as part of shared humanity, which acknowledges their agency, poten- tial and contributions. Keywords: European Union, Liberal Order, Identity, Crisis, Migration