Migration and municipal militancy in the Mediterranean

Abstract

From the US to Italy, from Brazil to Japan, cities from all over the world are increasingly vocal on migration issues. Advocating for alternative approach to immigrants’ welcome, their stand and policies may at times be in blunt contradiction with national approaches. This paper gives an overview of this new form of urban militancy, its recent evolution, its forms, its networks. Drawing on case studies in France, Spain and Italy, it seeks to explain why the Mediterranean has been an important setting for the politicisation of municipal involvement. The recent Palermo Platform Process shows how the combination of the support civil society organisations and the driving force of influential mayors has allowed the upscaling of such commitment at a European scale.