The Importance of Being Southern: The Making of Policies of Immigration Control in Italy

The distinction between 'weak' Southern European and 'strong' Northern European migration regimes has often been used to explain the shortcomings of Italian immigration policies. This article challenges such a bipolar perspective, by analyzing Italy's evolution as an immigration country beyond the so-called the 'Southern' regime stereotype. We show that the unsatisfactory outcomes of Italian mechanisms of immigration controls are not necessarily the epiphany of a weak policy apparatus. We argue that they are the result of a much more complex mix of factors shaping Italian immigration policies since the 1980s: unrealistic policy goals, contradictory international pressures, structural internal constraints and fragile party coalitions.