Thinking Europe otherwise: Lessons from the Caribbean

In the twenty-first century, Europe’s remaining 34 colonies in the Caribbean, the Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean are graphically represented as part of the EU in official maps, yet play no part in the definition of either the normative European ideal or the corresponding common identity. Administratively, most are either a part of the European states, which colonized them, and, by extension, of the EU, or have associated status within it; they are included in official EU maps, their citizens have EU citizenships; some even use the Euro as their official currency and are represented on Euro banknotes. The chapter advances the notion of “forgotten Europes” to encompass colonial territories of Europe today and examines its impact on existing borders and citizenship arrangements. It argues that one of the most immediate effects of rethinking Europe through its Caribbean and Atlantic colonies today is a drastic redrawing of European and EU borders to the Americas - more precisely, to French Guiana in South America and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, which, as overseas regions of France, are integral parts of the French Republic and consequently of the EU. The importance of EU borders in the Caribbean is made particularly apparent through a look at the ambivalent status of British Overseas Territories, which were not given a vote in the Brexit referendum and whose hard borders have not yet been the object of Brexit negotiations, but will effectively cut off territories such as Anguilla from access to medical services, infrastructure, and European aid. The chapter ends by suggesting that forgotten Europes such as Anguilla and their corresponding forgotten borders might well be the magnifying glass needed in order to make the current implications of Europe’s long-standing colonial entanglements both visible and legible.