Climate-induced migration in the proposed Joint Africa-EU Strategy - what's the problem represented to be?

Abstract: This study engages with problem representations of climate-induced migration in European Union (EU) policy. As Africa is a region highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and one of geopolitical interest for the EU, the material for the study consists of the policy documents concerning the new proposed Joint Africa-EU Strategy formulated by the EU in 2020 and 2021. The material is analysed through the discursive approach to policy analysis “What’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR). The study builds upon a postcolonial theoretical framework based on the concepts of ‘othering’ and ‘eurocentrism’. The findings of the study suggest that climate-induced migration in this context is represented as an economic issue, where a lack of economic development is framed as the ‘problem’. I argue that this dominant problem representation reproduces a colonial narrative as the ‘problem’ is placed in Africa that is represented as the party that needs to ‘change’. The EU is simultaneously represented as the possessor of the necessary knowledge, and as a norm towards which Africa should strive, while escaping further accountability and responsibility.