International migration and the rise of urban militant networks 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 politicization of municipal involvement and the rise of multi-actor power assemblage of municipalities and voluntary organizations.

Organising for System Change: “From the Sea to the City” and the Movement Ecology of Migrant Solidarity in Europe

“…In contrast to Brussels‐based and diplomacy‐oriented networks, these networks can be described as “a new generation of militant groupings, displaying a much more oppositional stand toward states” (Lacroix et al. 2022:2). Militant city networks experimented in constellations of “mixed memberships” (Oomen 2020:933) including grassroots initiatives, municipals leaders, civil society organisations, think tanks, and research centres, each with different degrees of militancy.…”

“…With the slogan “From Sea to Cities” (Lacroix et al. 2022:10) they describe their endeavour to connect “actors present along migratory pathways so as to build and strengthen forms of solidarity and encounters ‘along the way’” (Ataç et al. 2021:933).…”

“…Concerning cities in this political conjuncture, scholars draw attention to two forms of political action: with the terms “urban citizenship” (Bauder 2017, 2022; Darling and Bauder 2019) and “militant city network” (Lacroix et al. 2022), researchers conceptualise the disruption stemming from mayors that act in solidarity with migrants. These two forms of spatial politics are used as evidence to argue that cities are entry points for “transformative social change” (Russell 2019:991) or “a strategically important conduit for political change” (Darling 2019:244).…”

“…To illuminate this argument empirically, this paper hones in on one case, the transnational movement coalition “From the Sea to the City” (FS2C), as it represents one of the most advanced efforts of migrant solidarity to build capacities for system change in European migration politics (Lacroix et al. 2022:9). In recent years the main aim of the project has been to create a progressive counter‐pole to European migration politics with dissident mayors at its centre.…”

New scales of migration governance in the Mediterranean: Regional cities in the spotlight

“…There are emergent urban systems that have, directly or indirectly, a Mediterranean dimension. These first patterns are being analysed through different preliminary works (Caponio, 2018;Heimann et al, 2019;Lacroix et al, 2020;Oomen, 2019): combining materialist and ideationalist regional building dimensions (Pace, 2005), and evidencing the 'relational turn' put forward by Varro and Lagendijk (2012). These networks are categorized according to their key activities.…”