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Castan Pinos

Jaume Castan Pinos, PhD Student (BA Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)
jcastanpinos01@qub.ac.uk

Thesis

The current title of my thesis is ‘Globalisation, Europeanization and Islam: the new challenges for the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla’.

The conceptual framework of this research will be based on a concentric circle model. First of all, the local circle (1st circle), which is at the core of the research concerning the social but particularly political divisions in Ceuta and Melilla, the political role of the Muslim ‘other’ in the enclaves, etc. The second circle involves the surrounding state (Morocco) and the mainland (Spain) and their bilateral relations which are highly determined by the enclaves’ existence. Finally, the third circle concerns the EU and its borders with its Muslim neighbours in Northern Africa in general and Morocco in particular. This outer circle not only implies a post-national border between the EU and non-EU states but also concerns the broader civilisational divide between the so called West and Islam.  

Thus, my dissertation is aimed at understanding interactions between two different variables: identity and border challenges taking place in Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish enclaves in Africa which represent the external borders of the EU. Another key point is analysing the responses of the actors involved in these interactions: the Spanish and Moroccan governments, the EU and particularly those who live in the enclaves and who are ultimately the direct witness of the processes that I aim to analyse.

In seeking to understand these processes I aim to contribute to debates in the study of borders as well as to challenge the idea of the EU as (exclusively) bridge builder. Indeed, borders can be conceptualised as barriers, bridges, resources and symbols of identity. The four dimensions are relevant in the southern EU border, but because of the prominence of the control functions and the policing of the border, the bridge between the EU and its southern neighbours seems to have been jeopardised.  

Areas of Research

My general research interest include International Relations; political sociology; the political activity of Islamic communities in the EU; state borders and border regions in the EU along with the challenges of the changing EU border(s).

Supervisors

First Supervisor: Cathal McCall
Second Supervisor: Beverley Milton-Edwards