Julia Van Dessel

Since October 2025, I have been a Wiener-Anspach Postdoctoral Researcher affiliated with the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID). I am also a Research Associate at the Center for Research and Studies in International Politics (REPI). I was previously a Lecturer in Political Science and European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). I studied Political Science and Philosophy at ULB, where I obtained a Master's degree in European Studies (2017), a Master's degree in Ethics (2018), and a PhD in Political and Social Sciences (2024).

Planned research at ODID

My current research project examines the evolving role of communication and digital information in the EU’s efforts to govern migration beyond its borders. It builds on the findings of my doctoral research, which analysed the rise of EU-funded “information and awareness campaigns” on migration in West Africa. Conceived as tools to deter irregular migration by discouraging “potential migrants,” these campaigns have multiplied since 2015 despite the absence of evidence regarding their deterrent effect. Using a political sociology approach, my research explained this expansion and examined its effects on the ground in Niger and Senegal, shedding new light on the EU’s strategies of border externalisation.

Building on these insights, my postdoctoral project explores the growing reliance of EU migration enforcement on digital information, particularly social media data. It investigates how digital technologies are mobilised to influence migrants’ behaviour through online deterrence campaigns and to detect and disrupt smuggling networks. By tracing how social media data are harnessed for prescriptive and predictive purposes, the project examines emerging forms of governance that blur the boundaries between information provision and surveillance, as well as between external and internal dimensions of EU border control.