Home Institution
Colgate University
Publication Date
Fall 2022
Abstract
Morocco is a key transit country for many migrants trying to reach Europe, due to its shared land border with Spain, and Spain’s initiation into the European Union in 1986. Through informal interviews, current literature, Moroccan and Spanish news articles, and migrants’ stories, it can be seen that the changing bilateral relationship between Spain and Morocco creates violence at the border. Spain and Morocco’s unequal relationship is built upon economic dependency and colonialization. Spain wants to control Ceuta and Melilla border, the physical representation of “othering,” to cling to its “superior” identity, while Morocco hopes to further develop its economy and fight colonialism, using migration as a political leverage against Spain. When there is a cooperation between the two states, uncontrolled violence occurs at the border. The connection between this bilateral relationship and migrant suffering can be analyzed with game theory, specifically the Stag Hunt. While Morocco is challenging Western hegemony in this supposedly post-colonial world, it is doing so in an unethical way.
Disciplines
Inequality and Stratification | International Relations | Migration Studies | Politics and Social Change | Race and Ethnicity
Recommended Citation
Driscoll, Elizabeth, "Shifting Relations: How Spain and Morocco’s Bilateral Relationship Affects Violence at the Border" (2022). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3539.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3539
Included in
Inequality and Stratification Commons, International Relations Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons
Program Name
Morocco: Migration and Transnational Identity