Dorothea Biaback Anong: Varieties of Refiguration in Macro-Territories: Economic Stratification in Regional Free Movement Regimes beyond Europe. [Abstract]

As part of their regional integration efforts, several Regional Economic Communities around the world have established frameworks that guarantee regional free movement rights to citizens of member states. By comparing the cases of Mercosur (South America) and ECOWAS (West Africa) with the European Union (EU), this paper investigates economic stratification of mobility rights resulting from the tension between the market logic of regional economic integration and the logic of rights for member states’ citizens. Based on an interpretive policy analysis of regional free movement regulations, national policies and interviews with 68 policymakers, the article shows how the specific regional context for migration and policymaking shape the stratification of free movement rights and the respective utility logics, pointing to important blind spots in the current EU-focused literature. Thereby, it contributes to a decentering of studies on free movement, stratification, and economic utility. Moreover, by comparing processes of macro-territorialization across world regions it advances the debate on the varieties of refiguration.

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