The (in)formality of mobility in the ECOWAS region: The paradoxes of free movement

Kwaku Arhin-Sam; Amanda Bisong; Leonie Jegen; Harouna Mounkaila; Franzisca Zanker

doi:10.1080/10220461.2022.2084452

The (in)formality of mobility in the ECOWAS region: The paradoxes of free movement

Kwaku Arhin-Sam
, Amanda Bisong
, Leonie Jegen
, Harouna Mounkaila
, Franzisca Zanker^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

The free movement protocols of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have never been fully implemented, yet within the region people have continued to move relatively freely. At the same time, the original aim to improve mobility appears to be changing to one of control over mobility. Drawing on fieldwork data as well as a collaborative, deliberative process of uncovering what free movement means in conversations with a group of West African scholars and activists, this article seeks to better understand free movement in the region, despite all its paradoxes. It shows how formal free movement is undermined by several regional and national impediments, including weak ECOWAS institutions, divergent national interests among individual member states and infrastructural challenges like accessing ID cards, as well as external influence from the EU. These however work in convergence with a practice of everyday mobility within socio-political spaces that cross borders.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	187-205
Number of pages	19
Journal	South African Journal of International Affairs
Volume	29
Issue number	2
Early online date	9 Jun 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/10220461.2022.2084452
Publication status	Published - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The project was part of the ‘Mercator Dialogue on Migration and Asylum in Europe’ (MEDAM) funded by the Mercator Foundation. Franzisca Zanker was the Principal Investigator and Kwaku Arhin-Sam and Leonie Jegen both worked as researchers in the project. This article was co-authored with two additional co-authors – Amanda Bisong and Harouna Mounkaila – who added their own research experience.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The South African Institute of International Affairs.

Funding

The project was part of the ‘Mercator Dialogue on Migration and Asylum in Europe’ (MEDAM) funded by the Mercator Foundation. Franzisca Zanker was the Principal Investigator and Kwaku Arhin-Sam and Leonie Jegen both worked as researchers in the project. This article was co-authored with two additional co-authors – Amanda Bisong and Harouna Mounkaila – who added their own research experience.

Keywords

Borders
civil society
ECOWAS
EU
free movement
mobility
securitisation
xenophobia

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10.1080/10220461.2022.2084452

The in formality of mobility in the ECOWAS region The paradoxes of free movementFinal published version, 1.93 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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Cite this

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abstract = "The free movement protocols of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have never been fully implemented, yet within the region people have continued to move relatively freely. At the same time, the original aim to improve mobility appears to be changing to one of control over mobility. Drawing on fieldwork data as well as a collaborative, deliberative process of uncovering what free movement means in conversations with a group of West African scholars and activists, this article seeks to better understand free movement in the region, despite all its paradoxes. It shows how formal free movement is undermined by several regional and national impediments, including weak ECOWAS institutions, divergent national interests among individual member states and infrastructural challenges like accessing ID cards, as well as external influence from the EU. These however work in convergence with a practice of everyday mobility within socio-political spaces that cross borders.",

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The (in)formality of mobility in the ECOWAS region: The paradoxes of free movement

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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