Irregular Migration : IMISCOE Short Reader

This book deals with a salient issue of contemporary society: irregular immigration and asylum. It focuses on Southern Europe, a region in which this issue has occupied a central place in the last decades: before for the settlement of unauthorized workers, and more recently because of inflows of asylum seekers in Italy and Greece. Beyond public representation, irregular immigration is as a selective and dynamic process, in which different actors have a stake and play a role. Many irregular immigrants are socially accepted and substantially tolerated: for instance women performing domestic and care activities. Others are rejected and marginalised. Others are stigmatized, even if they obtain a formal authorization to reside: it is now the case of asylum seekers. Describing the case of bordering and debordering practices in Italy, from the island of Lampedusa to local communities in distant regions, the book introduces the readers to a “battleground” of paramount relevance for the future of democratic societies.