Joshua Steele

Ph.D. Student

I am a Historical and Cultural Geography PHD Candidate investigating the legacies of colonialism in Spain’s African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. In recent years, these heavily fortified cities have served as “satellite” locations of the European Union, with thousands attempted migrations each year. As a historical geographer, my scholarship focuses on the cultivation of a Spanish identity in these towns through the performance of the built environment, questioning a narrative of several centuries of uninterrupted Spanish sovereignty that has thwarted to-date calls for decolonization.