Bridging Race and Migration: Reimagining European Pasts, Presents, and Futures

In this short reflection, Sonja Evaldsson Mellström discusses the place of race/ism and colonialism in European migration studies today in relation to key takeaways from the Bridging Race and Migration series. Understanding migrations to and within Europe implies critically engaging with histories of colonialism, the Holocaust, the world wars (including the Cold War), European integration, European knowledge productions, and the historical treatment of minorities across the continent. The six scholars in the series stressed that contemporary migrations to and across Europe must be understood in relation to European histories of race/ism and colonialism, which are part of European pasts and presents. These questions need to be treated as equally internal and foundational to present-day Europe, particularly in light of rising far right  politics across the continent.

Read the full essay in Europe Now.