The ultimate gamble for migrants on the Mediterranean

In the book Darkness before Daybreak, anthropologist and senior researcher Hans Lucht follows the often deadly trajectories of a group of young men from a small fishing village in Ghana. In an attempt to reach Europe they risk their lives in the Sahara Desert and on the Mediterranean. Lucht discusses what their losses and gains mean to families left behind and how their fates are linked to developments in global political economy. The book won the 2012 Elliott P. Skinner Book Award for outstanding research and publication in African Studies and Anthropology.