Black and Brown in Europe So White Podcast

Shada Islam, Emmanuel Achiri, and William Noah Glucroft
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A podcast from Brussels that's more than skin deep. Join us for critical conversations about the imperial logics and racial orderings that persist in Europe's so-called postwar liberal peace project. bbeswpod.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Aug 10

    BBESW Podcast EP4: After Ceuta Is Before Ceuta

    What is “Europe”? Where do its borders lie? Who gets to roam freely within them and who is kept forcibly out? These questions and their shifting answers were on painful display recently as tens of thousands of human beings crossed into Spain’s colonial enclave of Ceuta, on mainland Morocco. Why they did remains a matter of dispute and conspiracy. The truth is probably a combustible mix of factors. The response, however, has been anything but ambiguous. Much of the European Union, where right-wing populism and nativist securitization increasingly dominate the political mainstream, quickly turned against center-left Spain. Its Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, is already the odd duck within the European establishment for his relatively supportive position on Palestine, openness to migration, and opposition to military spending. Under pressure to act, Sánchez came out looking little better than his less-than-liberal peers. Although Europe’s visa-free Schengen Area was never at risk, many of the countries that are part of it took unverified panic on social media and chaotic scenes in Ceuta as an opportunity to double down on the civilizational discourse that has gripped European politics. Ironically, many of these countries have themselves called Schengen into question with all but permanent requests for “temporary” border controls. In the aftermath of Ceuta, dozens of migrants are dead, and Europe is weaker and more divided. Its most racist and belligerent voices have the upper hand in a zero-sum politics of exclusion. It is difficult to argue that international law, due process, and human dignity have much of a place in the European Imaginary anymore. Instead, it’s clear that more than any Frontex guard or technocratic piece of legislation, what polices Fortress Europe most of all are racially coded boundaries that help determine who “deserves” certain rights and freedoms and who does not. To get all our episodes right away and for free, don’t forget to subscribe! Join us as we confront the imperial core with its multifaceted peripheries. And remember: Solidarity means moving through the world together, so be sure to share us with an ally or two—or someone needs a little nudge to become one. Don’t miss us on Instagram, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. NB: Transcripts are auto-generated and subject to errors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bbeswpod.substack.com

    BBESW Podcast EP4: After Ceuta Is Before Ceuta

  2. Jul 28

    BBESW Podcast EP3: Books To Bring With You To the Beach or the Mountains

    In Europe, the concept of “summer” feels almost like a fundamental right. For several weeks, shops close up and cities empty out as workers and families undertake their annual traditions of checking out from everyday life. Soaring temperatures, spreading wildfires, and high-season prices do not appear to have changed this pattern much. It’s as if capitalism itself downshifts to a less oppressive mode of operation in this season—its neoliberal impulses dulled by ocean tides and mountain air. Yet those structures are never far away. In the Mediterranean, they help determine who sinks and who swims; from the Balkans and across the Schengen Area, they police borders and movement across them. Everyone should enjoy well-deserved time off, without forgetting who gets to be off and why—and what “off” even means. That’s why, before you disappear till September, Shada, Emmanuel, and William send you packing with our favorite books. These are stories and histories of resilience, resistance, and remembrance. We hope they fill you with inspiration and good ideas to bring back with you. We’d love to hear what you think of them and share your favorite books with us! Until then, have a great and meaningful summer with the people who matter most to you. To get all our episodes right away and for free, don’t forget to subscribe! Join us as we confront the imperial core with its multifaceted peripheries. And remember: Solidarity means moving through the world together, so be sure to share us with an ally or two—or someone needs a little nudge to become one. Don’t miss us on Instagram, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. NB: Transcripts are auto-generated and subject to errors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bbeswpod.substack.com

    BBESW Podcast EP3: Books To Bring With You To the Beach or the Mountains

  3. May 26

    BBESW Podcast EP2: Feature, Not A Bug

    Shada, Emmanuel, and William are back! If you liked our pilot episode, you will really enjoy this one. Together, we connect contemporary policing in Europe to its colonial continuities, anti-immigrant politics, and the securitization of everything that seems to have no end. Repression of pro-Palestinian activism is only the tip of the imperial iceberg. Anyone who contests the status quo of state power—climate campaigners, workers, artists—risks facing its wrath. The problems aren’t individual. They’re structural. That means the solutions need to be, too. Ultimately, we ask: Can the European “peace project” be truly democratic when wedded to a capitalist system of extraction, subjugation, and racialized control? To get all our episodes right away and for free, don’t forget to subscribe! Join us as we confront the imperial core with its multifaceted peripheries. And remember: Solidarity means moving through the world together, so be sure to share us with an ally or two—or someone who could become one with a little nudge. Don’t miss us on Instagram, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. NB: Transcripts are auto-generated and subject to errors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bbeswpod.substack.com

    BBESW Podcast EP2: Feature, Not A Bug

  4. May 10

    BBESW Podcast EP1: Introductions

    Greetings! Where else to begin this new podcast series than in the beginning? Shada, Emmanuel, and William trace their divergent yet overlapping paths to “Europe”—a place and an idea that can be difficult to define, except to say that you know it when you see it. Our experiences and trajectories are neither individual nor accidental. They reflect larger social structures: products of racial hierarchies, colonial continuities, and (geo)political power dynamics. The European Union likes to think it’s beyond all that, when in fact it is built on and replicates these very logics. How we are simultaneously agents of and subjects to them—and how we can resist them to imagine new possibilities of organizing human life—is the subject of this podcast. To get all our episodes right away and for free, don’t forget to subscribe! Join us as we confront the imperial core with its multifaceted peripheries. And remember: Solidarity means moving through the world together, so be sure to share us with an ally or two! Don’t miss us on Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify. NB: Transcripts are auto-generated and subject to errors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bbeswpod.substack.com

    BBESW Podcast EP1: Introductions
  • 4 Episodes

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A podcast from Brussels that's more than skin deep. Join us for critical conversations about the imperial logics and racial orderings that persist in Europe's so-called postwar liberal peace project. bbeswpod.substack.com

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