Abstract
The Southern Mediterranean border has in the past decade become one of the most deeply contested political spaces in Europe and has been described as a site of the border spectacle. Drawing on textual and visual analysis of Twitter messages by two of the most prominent actors in the field, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, and the humanitarian and medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, the article examines the split nature of the Mediterranean border which is, among others, visible in radically different narratives about migrants’ journeys, border deaths and living conditions. The findings challenge previous scholarship about convergence of humanitarianism and policing. The two actors are waging a fierce media battle for moral authority, where they use widely diverging strategies of claiming authority, each of which carries a particular set of ethical dilemmas.
Highlights
Background and methodsnon-governmental organization (NGO) search and rescue activities are a relatively recent phenomenon
While the Médecins Sans Frontières sea operations’ (MSF_Sea)’s communications portray the border as a space of unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, Frontex messages, on the other hand, frame the Mediterranean border as a space of criminal activity that needs to be conquered by the means of effective police action
This article has embraced the encouragement that ‘criminology needs to rethink its relations with the ascendant power of spectacle’ (Carrabine, 2012: 463)
Summary
Background and methodsNGO search and rescue activities are a relatively recent phenomenon. It examines the visual and discursive framing of the Mediterranean border by two of the most prominent actors in the field: the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, and the humanitarian and medical non-governmental organization (NGO) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
