Green European Journal

Touted as Europe’s largest infrastructure project, the Grand Paris Express promises better connectivity and improved public transport for the French capital. However, for Roma squatters and slum residents, the colossal project has meant forced evictions and further exclusion from society.

Do the violence and oppression against Palestinians in Gaza and the discrimination and surveillance against migrants trying to cross European borders have more in common than meets the eye? A Belgian activist of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition speaks out about the Israeli arms industry, institutionalized violence and human rights abuses.

Safeguarding the dubious concept of a ‘European way of life’ has serious implications for migrants. Though indispensable for economic growth, new arrivals, who endure militarized border systems, face a future of privatized detention centres and offshore processing facilities. Could a new focus on common goals provide the necessary end to dehumanizing practices?

From migration to foreign policy, Europe has undergone an identitarian shift. Both far-right politicians and pro-European voices are framing external influences as civilizational threats, reviving the link between Europe and whiteness.