Re-Thinking the Global Governance of Migration through the Lens of Liquid Authority

The literature on European migration and asylum governance is characterised by a theoretical rigidity, induced by the ‘grand theories’ of European integration. There is a clear lack of studies that approach this policy area in the context of global governance. This stems from the submissive assumption that the policy area of migration is still largely dominated by governmental authorities. - This notion comes from the fact that most scholars still analyse governance through the narrow lens of ‘solid authority’, being formal and constitutional in nature. This paper makes a threefold contribution to the migration literature by reconnecting it with theoretical insights from the literature on global governance. Three arguments are put forward: (1) this paper shows that the ‘vertical shift’ thesis of Guiraudon (2000) still holds but is now applicable to the European policy venue. (2) This paper elaborates on the ‘vertical’ shift of migration governance in the EU policy venue, through the lenses of ‘liquid authority’ and loosely coupled spheres of authority. This ‘shift’ involves a transfer of competences to other international organisations and specialized agencies. The focus lies on the dynamic relationships between the different global governance authorities in the policy area of migration and how political authority is exercised in more informal and ‘soft’ ways. The IOM and Frontex are used as empirical case studies to examine the interests and preferences of different actors who shape the relationships between loosely coupled spheres of authority; characterised by dynamism and informality. (3) It underlines the argument that politicization and depoliticization are mirror images that can happen at the same time. To strengthen this argument, this paper looks at the migration-development nexus as a particular legitimation narrative that blurs the boundaries between ‘epistemic’ and ‘political’ authorities, examining through CDA ‘what’ is exactly politicized or depoliticized, and by which actor.