Understanding Postcolonialism in the EU’s Migration Governance in the Southern Neighbourhood

This chapter critically examines the European Union's (EU) discourse towards the Southern Neighbourhood. The central argument is that, following poststructuralism, the EU's construction of itself as an actor in the region is problematic, given its claims to civilizational values and the imposition of norms of good governance that have been legitimised through the framework of Normative Power Europe (NPE). The research question asks how the logics and rationalities of the EU's good governance discourse produce a set of norms under the ENP tools to enforce migration governance in the Southern Neighbourhood. This question is explored through the governmentality approach, which explains how norms and values are assumed and enforced. The case studies of Lebanon and Morocco, with their different political systems and history of engagement with the EU, demonstrate how good governance and its particular component of migration is central to the EU’s foreign policy and its relationship with the neighbourhood. Moreover, this chapter draws from postcolonial literature in the MENA region. The methodology employed is critical discourse analysis (CDA), using a discourse historical approach (DHA) that places historical and governmental context at the centre of identity construction through language. The analysis takes into account the Moroccan and Lebanese contexts to address the scholarly gap in the literature linking migration governance critical theories applied to the southern neighbourhood. It concludes that the concept of ‘migration good governance’ must be decolonized.