Counter-hegemonic uses of law in struggles for freedom of movement in the Central Mediterranean

Abstract

Law constitutes the architecture of the governance of global mobility. It regulates the irreducible impulse to move, binding people to territories through the institution of citizenship and limiting the possibilities of crossing international borders. Law can also be mobilised to secure the rights of people on the move. In the Mediterranean various actors interact across a densely entangled legal landscape involving the Law of the sea, fundamental rights and asylum, and public law rules granting control and repressive powers to states for border protection and crime prevention. This article asks if — and under which conditions — law can take on counter-hegemonic qualities in the struggles for freedom of movement. It argues that legal interventions that support migrants on the move can be counter-hegemonic if they combine different approaches regarding the legal responsibility of states and when they support migratory claims to enter European territory without focusing only on the issue of international protection.