Creating Europe from the Margins: Introduction

Abstract

This edited volume centres on how the idea of Europe can be explored by focusing on Europe’s margin. It inquires critically into the relations and tensions in the Global South/Global North divide and the internal differentiation within Europe itself (Southern, Eastern, Northern Europe) and across and within the different nation-states. While recent discussions of migration and Europe and of Fortress Europe seem to assume the concept of Europe as coherent and clearly demarcated, Europe’s history shows ambiguity with a lack of clear delimitations. The contributors ask how different geopolitical hierarchies intersect with racialized subject positions of diverse people living in Europe, while also cutting across classifications of gender, class, sexuality, religion and nationality. What kinds of hierarchies are at play in being and becoming European and how do they engage with a racialized logic of the past and present? What do margins mean in a space that is increasingly digitalized? This introduction considers the main theoretical ideas behind the book, grounding these questions in critical theories of race and inequalities. It positions margins and centres as open to negotiation and contestation and characterized by ambiguity.