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<p>Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Challenges in Determining Migration Causes: Policies and Theories.- Chapter three: Theeconomic dimension of the postcolonial African migration to the West.- Chapter Four: The Political Dimension of the Postcolonial African Migration to the West.- Chapter five: The postcolonial African migration to the West as a Desire for Liberation.- Chapter Six: The Postcolonial African Migration to the West as a Desire for Recognition.- Chapter seven: The postcolonial African migration to the West as a desire for being.- Chapter eight:&nbsp; thepostcolonial Migration from Africa to the West as a Desire for Equality and Negation of Difference.- Chapter nine: Summary and Conclusion.</p>

<p><strong>Belachew Gebrewold&nbsp;</strong>is a professor of International Relations and the Head of Department and Studies of Social Work and Social Policy at MCI, Innsbruck, Austria. His main research areas are African politics, conflicts and migration. His publications include various peer-reviewed articles, monographs and edited volumes such as Africa and Fortress Europe, 2007; Anatomy of Violence, 2009; Global Security Triangle, 2010; Understanding Migrant Decisions,&nbsp;2016; Human Trafficking and Exploitation,&nbsp;2017. He was also a member of the steering committee of the UN Global Compact for Regular, Safe and Orderly Migration preparatory process in 2017.</p>

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<p>Postcolonial African migration to the West is not only a spatial movement in search of material and physical security but also an expression of the mimetic&nbsp;<em>desire for being</em>&nbsp;by imitating the West or “whitening” oneself&nbsp;against the background of the dehumanizing historical legacies of slavery, colonialism, and Western dominance. It is a flight from oneself, from perceived inadequacies. To migrate to the West is an expression of the desire for being, not through detachment from the “fascinating” West but rather through adoration and imitation of its lifestyle, beauty ideals, and soft and hard power, and by living in the West. The model (the West) builds ubiquitous anti-migrant physical and virtual fences, which the imitator tries to overcome. The more the model re-strengthens these fences, the more the imitator tries to scale them. The anti-migrant fences are the meeting point of the model’s perceived superiority, admirability, and desirability on the one hand, and on the other hand the imitator’s inferiority complex and inner tension between the paradoxical desire for detachment from the model and its passionate imitation at the same time. This book argues that African migration to the West will continue even in the absence of poverty, conflicts, and climate change because it is also about the&nbsp;<em>mimetic desire for being</em>.</p>

<p><strong>Belachew Gebrewold&nbsp;</strong>is a professor of International Relations and the Head of Department and Studies of Social Work and Social Policy at MCI, Innsbruck, Austria. His main research areas are African politics, conflicts and migration. His publications include various peer-reviewed articles, monographs and edited volumes such as Africa and Fortress Europe, 2007; Anatomy of Violence, 2009; Global Security Triangle, 2010; Understanding Migrant Decisions,&nbsp;2016; Human Trafficking and Exploitation,&nbsp;2017. He was also a member of the steering committee of the UN Global Compact for Regular, Safe and Orderly Migration preparatory process in 2017.</p>

The book brings new theoretical insights into postcolonial African migration to the West as a desire for being It shows that material and physical insecurities are not the main causes of African migration to the West It addresses migration from multi-disciplinary perspectives and is useful for the general public as well as academicians

<p>“Belachew Gebrewold takes us on an African journey of critical self-reflection, creatively using Girard’s mimetic theory to parse the deepest challenges facing the continent. Observing that many who are well-off want to migrate to the West, he asked “Why?” and this led to a profound realization that they are on a quest for recognition, driven by an internalized sense of inferiority. The West becomes the Model of a colonized mimetic desire that morphs into ontological mimetic desire—a desire to Be the Other. Gebrewold puts forth a powerful challenge to Africans—to own their own problems of corruption, social inequality, poor governance, and relative poverty. He claims that Africans can transform their continent by claiming their own ontological strength as Africans. For non-Africans, he becomes an exemplar of self-critical reflection leading to transformation of this wonderful world.” (Vern Neufeld Redekop, Professor Emeritus of Conflict Studies, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada)</p>