Table Of ContentHumanitarianism, Human Rights,
and Security
Examining the relationship between humanitarianism, human rights, and security
in the governance of borders and migration, this book analyses the case of the
European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), challenging the common
assumption that humanitarianism and human rights provide a critical basis for
countering securitisation.
Arguing that these are not three opposing discourses and modes of governing,
the author contributes to a deeper understanding of their connections and combined
effects in border governance. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews,
and document analysis, the book offers three perspectives on Frontex’s changing
relationship to humanitarianism and human rights. In doing so, it provides
a multifaceted account of Frontex and its gradual appropriation of what are
often considered pro-migrant discourses. Combining organisational sociology
with a Foucauldian analysis, the book speaks to ongoing debates on continuity
and change in the security field and provides insights into studying security
organisations more generally.
Drawing on insights from Critical Migration and Border Studies, Critical
Security Studies, Critical Humanitarianism and Human Rights Studies, and
Organisational Sociology, the book will generate interest to multiple disciplines,
including Sociology, International Relations, Politics, Anthropology, European
Studies, and Geography.
Nina Perkowski is working as a Researcher at the Institute for Peace Research
and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Germany.
Interventions
Edited by Jenny Edkins
Aberystwyth University
Nick Vaughan-Williams
University of Warwick
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A New Political Imagination
M aking the Case
T ony Fry and Madina Tlostanova
H umanitarianism, Human Rights, and Security
T he Case of Frontex
Nina Perkowski
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/series/INT
Humanitarianism, Human
Rights, and Security
The Case of Frontex
Nina Perkowski
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Nina Perkowski
The right of Nina Perkowski to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Perkowski, Nina, author.
Title: Humanitarianism, human rights and security : the case of Frontex /
Nina Perkowski.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Series: Interventions | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020037809 (print) | LCCN 2020037810 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367195038 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429202841 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Humanitarianism—Europe. | Human rights—Europe. |
Border s ecurity—Europe. | European Border and Coast Guard Agency. |
Europe—Emigrants and Immigration.
Classification: LCC BJ1475.3 .P42 2021 (print) | LCC BJ1475.3 (ebook) |
DDC 201/.76—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037809
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037810
ISBN: 978-0-367-19503-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-20284-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of figures vi
About the author vii
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 Humanitarianism, human rights, and security 17
2 Frontex as a compromise 41
3 Frontex as protector of Europe, saviour of lives,
and promoter of rights 63
4 Frontex as a fragmented organisation 106
5 The effects of Frontex’s re-positioning 135
Conclusion: reconsidering critique 152
Index 163
Figures
0.1 Word counts of rights-related terms in Frontex’s annual
reports over time 4
0.2 Word counts of rescue-related terms in Frontex’s annual
reports over time 4
0.3 Word counts of security-related terms in Frontex’s annual
reports over time 5
0.4 Word counts per page in Frontex’s annual reports over time 5
1.1 Mapping differentiation in practices of humanitarianism 28
About the author
Nina Perkowski is working as a Researcher at the Institute for Peace Research
and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Prior to this, from
2017 to 2019, she was a Lecturer at the Chair of Criminology at the University
of Hamburg. From 2015 to 2017, she was a Research Fellow in the project
Crossing the Mediterranean Sea by Boat as well as the Research Coordina-
tor of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Mediterranean Migration
Research Programme at the University of Warwick. Nina studied at the Uni-
versiteit Maastricht, University of California in Berkeley, and the University
of Oxford. She holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. In her research,
she focuses on how borders are drawn, contested, and navigated within and
around European societies, critically examining the interplay of border secu-
rity and border violence in different contexts. Her research has been published
in international peer-reviewed journals such as S ecurity Dialogue, Journal of
Ethnic and Migration Studies, and Journal of Common Market Studies.
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues,
friends, and family along the way. First of all, I would like to thank Christina
Boswell and Andrew Neal, who accompanied me as supervisors throughout writ-
ing the thesis this book is based on, and whose critical comments and questions
helped me sharpen my arguments and my thinking. I would also like to thank the
School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh for award-
ing me the very first Chrystal Macmillan Studentship that made the research for
this book possible. My heartfelt thanks go to the friends, colleagues, and office
mates who made life in Edinburgh what it was: Joanna Wiseman, Alessio Berto-
lini, Anna Pultar, Roberto Grasso, Lisa Schweiger, Henrike Hirnstein, Supurna
Banerjee, and so many others. As my PhD funding ended, I was fortunate in being
offered a job at Warwick University, which allowed me not only to continue pay-
ing my bills, but also to become part of a vibrant team of academics who share
my interest in EUropean border governance and migration. Vicki Squire, Nick
Vaughan-Williams, and Dallal Stevens offered their guidance and understanding
for my ongoing battle to finish the PhD, as well as nudging me to think about
life beyond submission. When returning to Germany and updating the research
underpinning this book, I found wonderful people and two great institutions to
connect with: sincere thanks go to Christine Hentschel, Susanne Krasmann, and
Vojta Drapal at the University of Hamburg, and to Ursula Schröder, Martin Kahl,
and my colleagues at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Studies at the
University of Hamburg.
Transcending specific places in which I lived and worked, I found a stimulating
academic community in both critical security studies and migration and border
studies. Speaking about my work to Veit Schwab, Maurice Stierl, Stephan Scheel,
Damien Simmoneau, Lorenzo Pezzani, Martina Tazzioli, Celine Cantat, Didier
Bigo, Julien Jeandesboz, Polly Pallister-Wilkins, Francesco Ragazzi, Thierry
Balzacq, and Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet, among so many others, has enriched my
understandings and analysis. The many conversations I have had with colleagues
in the kritnet network who share not only my research interests but also my anger
about EUropean border governance and my desire to contest the division between
“activism” and “academia” to work towards political change have been incredibly
rewarding and inspiring.
Acknowledgements ix
T here have been many people who have been by my side for much longer
than this research project, and who have kept me grounded, loved, and supported
throughout it. Thanks for our conversations, laughter and tears, marathon Skype
sessions, emails, packages and postcards, your many visits, and your determi-
nation to remain connected to me despite the physical distance. You have been
a never-ending source of support, love, comfort, joy, and self-reflection. Linda
Avena, Mo Zündorf, and Geraldine Lamfalussy and her wonderful family, Mari-
anne Kraußlach, Maren Kurschat, Charlotte Jacobi, Sophie Hinger, Franzi Förster,
Henni Freckmann: I thank you with all my heart. My family has been my rock
throughout. The knowledge to have a place to return to at any time, under any cir-
cumstances, has been invaluable. I am incredibly privileged to be able to count on
my parents’ and brothers’ unwavering support, laughter and silliness, encourage-
ment, and open arms. Finally, my thanks go to Jacopo, who has been on my side
for much of this project and has had to endure most as I was writing up the thesis
and revising this manuscript. I don’t know how I would have kept going without
your boundless patience, love, and support. And to our little Leo, who has brought
so much joy into our lives and has made sure I remember that life is more than this
book: I cannot thank both of you enough.
Parts of chapters 1 and 5 were previously published in: Perkowski, Nina. Fron-
tex and the Convergence of Humanitarianism, Human Rights and Security. Secu-
rity Dialogue 49(6): 457–75. Copyright © 2018 Nina Perkowski. Sage Journals.
DOI: 10.1177/0967010618796670
Parts of chapter 4 were previously published in: Perkowski, Nina. “There Are
Voices in Every Direction”: Organizational Decoupling in Frontex. JCMS: Jour-
nal of Common Market Studies 57(5): 1182–99. Copyright © 2019 University
Association for Contemporary European Studies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
John Wiley & Sons Ltd. DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12897
