The History and Politics of Free Movement within the European Union: European Borders of Justice

About the Author

Saila Heinikoski is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Law, Identity and the European Narratives at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is the co-author, along with Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark and Pirjo Kleemola-Juntunen, of Demilitarization and International Law in Context (2016).

Bo Stråth is Emeritus Professor of Nordic, European and World History at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He also taught contemporary history at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Martti Koskenniemi is Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki, Hauser Global Visiting Professor of Law at New York University and Director of the Erik Castren Institute of International Law and Human Rights.

Product Description

The right to free movement is the one privilege that EU citizens value the most in the Union, but one that has also created much political controversy in recent years, as the debates preceding the 2016 Brexit referendum aptly illustrate. This book examines how European politicians have justified and criticized free movement from the commencement of the first Commission of the EU-25 in November 2004 to the Brexit referendum in June 2016. The analysis takes into account the discourses of Heads of State, Governments and Ministers of the Interior (or Home Secretaries) of six major European states: the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Romania. In addition to these national leaders, the speeches of European Commissioners responsible for free movement matters are also considered.

The book introduces a new conceptual framework for analysing practical reasoning in political discourses and applies it in the analysis of national free movement debates contextualised in respective migration histories. In addition to results related to political discourses, the study unearths wider problems related to free movement, including the diversified and variegated approaches towards different groups of movers as well as the exclusive attitudes apparent in both discourses and policies.

The History and Politics of Free Movement within the European Union is of interest to anyone studying national and European politics and ideologies, contemporary history, migration policies and political argumentation.

Review

“Integral to the European Union project has been the idea of free movement across national borders, but its implementation raises multiple questions about competing rationales, goals, and notions of solidarity. Saila Heinikoski helps us make sense of all this in her insightful analysis of elite debates over time. At this fraught moment in the history of that project, this is essential reading.” ―Peter Kivisto, Professor of Sociology, Augustana College, USA

“This book provides a fascinating and thoroughly researched analysis of discourse surrounding free movement in six major European countries and the European Commission, with implications for ideas of European identity and citizenship. Heinikoski demonstrates that while various migration-related tensions divide European countries, free movement may create a common sense of Europeanness.” ―Willem Maas, Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, York University, Canada