No abstract

Drones have been widely used by public authorities during the COVID‐19 pandemic for pandemic‐related problems. As an innovative tool with a wide range of potentialities, they have been deemed suitable for an exceptional situation marked by the persistence of social distance. Yet, the turn to new technology to solve complex problems is a political decision that has broad societal implications, especially in the context of declared states of emergency. In the article we argue that the extensive use of drones by national authorities during the COVID‐19 pandemic has generated a new socio‐technical assemblage of actors, technologies and practices. Building on the three main uses of drones as responses to specific pandemic‐related challenges (disinfection, delivery, and surveillance), we analyse the actors and the practices involved in this new socio‐technical assemblage. From the empirical material, we explore potential effects of drone uses on key issues such as the technology regulatory processes, public acceptance, and security and safety concerns.

The externalisation of European Union migration governance disproportionately impacts states based on the African continent. Much of the analytical focus amongst existing research has been on the agency of the EU and its Member-states, identifying the asymmetric and postcolonial character of these policies, as well as highlighting that the imposition of European interests on African states risks undermining their own political stability. Yet, there is significant effort spent by actors on both sides of the Mediterranean on making African counterparts visible as an equal partneran endeavour seen not just rhetorically within speeches, but also in the setup of key institutional fora and their membership. The article approaches the framing processes involved to trace the legitimating basis of EU-Africa relations and the externalisation of EU migration policy to African states, highlighting how African political actors are positioned as participating in what is an EU-led process.