ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the central themes of the book, focusing on the complex and often contradictory nature of migration and border control within the European Schengen Area. The Schengen Area is a group of European countries that have abolished border controls between them, allowing for free and unrestricted movement of people across member states as if they were a single country. The chapter sets up the socio-legal analysis that will be central to the book's argument, highlighting how law, politics, and discretionary decision-making shape the Schengen mobility regime. The author reflects on the dynamic tension between stability and change, noting how enduring structures and legal frameworks enable a deeply securitised and racialised regime of mobility control. The narrative begins with the author's personal journey into this field of research, emphasising the challenges of gaining access to security-focused agencies such as border control agencies and the ethical complexities of studying such institutions. This chapter lays the theoretical groundwork for a detailed exploration of ‘intra-Schengen’ borderlands, where European and national laws intersect and tensions between migration and crime control blur. The author aims to unravel how these legal mechanisms perpetuate inequality in mobility rights and explores the discretionary power wielded by border enforcement officers.
