Burning at Europe's Borders

About the Author(s)

Dr. Isabella Alexander-Nathani is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, educator, and human rights activist. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, her work is motivated by her belief that storytelling has the power to humanize complex political issues. Her latest book, Burning at Europe's Borders, and related documentary film, The Burning, uncover the human sides of our global migrant and refugee crisis. Alexander-Nathani's work has been featured on BBC, CNN, NPR, PRI, and Al Jazeera, and she is a regular contributor to SAPIENS, where she writes a monthly column called "Borders." Her speaking programs have brought her to stages around the world, including the United Nations General Assembly and the Parliament of the World's Religions, where she has delivered keynote addresses to audiences of more than 10,000. The American Anthropological Association presented her with the "Emerging Leader in Anthropology" award in 2016, and her latest project has been supported by multiple grants from The National Science Foundation. She has held faculty positions in the Departments of Anthropology and Film Studies at Emory University and the Department of Social Sciences at Morocco's national university. She currently serves as Founder and CEO of Small World Films, a non-profit production studio. She uses grounded research and social impact storytelling to lift the voices of marginalized populations to the global stage and fight for international policy change.

Reviews

"Dr. Isabella Alexander-Nathani is paving the way for a new generation of human rights activists. She has spent her career on the frontlines, willing to sacrifice her life in the fight to advance human rights in unseen corners of the world. Her work lifts the voices of the most vulnerable and has convinced world leaders that we can no longer talk about human rights without talking about race. It is thanks to her that we now know the untold stories of Africa's migrant and refugee crisis. She is a true freedom fighter, and this book is poised to lead her legacy."--Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Civil & Human Rights Activist

"Bearing witness to the hopes and dreams of some of the most desperate and vulnerable migrants of our time, Alexander-Nathani creates a refuge for their stories in this stunning book. An ethnography written with heart and deep knowledge, it is essential reading for understanding our global migrant crisis."--Ruth Behar, University of Michigan, Author of The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart

"Burning at Europe's Borders is a breathtakingly ambitious and bold account of the travails of migration across an extended geography encompassing much of Central and Western Africa and the cruel racialized severities of border enforcement in North Africa. Simultaneously, it presents a multifaceted study of Morocco as a country profoundly shaped by its own history of migration to Europe, as a postcolonial junior partner in the brutal policing of Europe's externalized borders, and as a pivotal crossroads for the diverse migrant and refugee movements seeking to transgress the ever more fortified and deadly borders of Europe. Alexander-Nathani's book is a rich ethnographic work of compelling description, sensitive narration, and deeply empathetic storytelling--an outstanding achievement."--Nicholas de Genova, University of Houston, Editor of The Borders of "Europe": Autonomy of Migration, Tactics of Bordering

"An important and innovative contribution to our understanding of Europe's migration crisis. Alexander-Nathani's moving prose and nuanced analytical insights shine a much needed ethnographic light on the lives of African migrants and refugees who struggle to find freedom and happiness in a world of increasing inequality and violence."--Jason de Leon, University of California, Los Angeles, Author of The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail

"In this rich and poignant ethnography, scholar, activist, and storyteller Alexander-Nathani invites us to listen to the voices of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who remind us that what we call a migration 'crisis' is, in fact, a reception crisis on the part of the European Union. This book is at once a courageous ethnography, an act of solidarity, and an insightful piece of scholarship that meticulously traces the externalization of European borders, exposing its racial undertones and revealing its catastrophic effects. It bows to the resilience, courage, and determination of those whose movement is changing the face of our world--those who are being sacrificed and burned, not only for the sake of the loved ones they leave behind, but for all our sakes. Ignore them at our peril."--Yannis Hamilakis, Brown University, Editor of The New Nomadic Age: Archaeologies of Forced and Undocumented Migration

"This book brings to life the untold stories of the migrant and refugee crisis currently unfolding at Europe's southern doorstep in Africa. In a skillful balance of solid research and first-hand accounts, Alexander-Nathani weaves a captivating story of humanitarian crisis in a way that is both theoretically grounded and highly readable. Layering her text with case studies opens windows into real lives and puts readers in direct conversation with those whose stories are defined by their liminality. But the real heroic effort here is the author's decision to place the words of migrants alongside and equal those of the scholars and theorists she analyzes. In doing so, Alexander-Nathani has redefined the art of academic storytelling, asserting deep human truths and moving subtly beyond scholarship to activism."--Ann Shafer, Harvard University, Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Art and Architecture