The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in Europe: Globalisation, Deterrence, and Vicious Cycles by Matilde Rosina. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. XXIII, 333 pp. € 103.99.

Abstract

Irregular migration is one of the most significant phenomena of the 20th and 21st centuries, a life-changing process for countless migrants seeking better lives elsewhere, a thorny and complicated reality for transit and destination countries, and a transnational issue for the international community. As a result, it has become a polarising element of political debates in many destination countries (see Mudde, 2019), yet many aspects of its related policies remain understudied. Matilde Rosina’s monograph, titled The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in Europe: Globalisation, Deterrence, and Vicious Cycles, aims to fill this gap by exploring the goals and effects of irregular migration criminalisation. Is the latter effective in stemming irregular arrivals, deterring new irregular flows, and fostering repatriations? The author convincingly argues that ‘no’ is the answer. To address these important questions, she analyses two highly-relevant case studies – Italy and France – as developed nations experiencing high numbers of irregular arrivals and adopting a criminalisation approach. The volume is structured into seven large chapters which are here discussed. Chapter 1 introduces the topic by presenting both qualitative and quantitative accounts that provide useful context, and then offers an overview of the three main theories employed in this research (realism, neoliberalism, and transnationalism), as well as the triangulated methodologies (policy evaluation, interviews, questionnaires, and datasets). The author specifies that her book is centred on IPE and criminology as disciplines of interest, and the case study justification is logically-sound. Chapter 2 is a solid theory and literature review chapter. The tripartite theoretical framework may have benefitted from other disciplinary works (see Echeverría, 2020) and international relations literature that gave birth to two of its component, but it is otherwise very well presented. The following discussion on the policy gaps hypothesis is analytically-strong and conceptually-interesting. On a related note, a short digression on Australia would have further nuanced this section (and the following chapter), since it represents a noticeable exception to the cited literature. Chapter 3 delves into the book’s core concepts. While it does not draw on the original international security literature, the strategy of deterrence in the context of irregular migration criminalisation is presented accurately and effectively. The relevant framework comprising legal costs, perceptions, and social costs is equally good, as are the negative implications that are discussed afterwards. Chapter 4 is a long, well-written, and empirically-rich chapter focusing on the Italian case study. Although some relevant publications are not included (e.g. Ceccorulli and Labanca, 2014; Abbondanza, 2017), it is also well-sourced. It begins with a solid account of Rome’s irregular migration policies, followed by a useful outline of its administrative and criminal procedures concerning irregular migrants. It then provides a quantitative context through two previouslyunpublished datasets, an important feature of this book for which the author is to be