Elena Fontanari
Biographic Data
| ID | 228311 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elena Fontanari |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elena |
| FAMILY NAME | Fontanari |
| SIGNATURE | FONTANARI E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Milan |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3045-4110 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 101 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Disciplining Poverty
This article examines migrant workers’ experiences with the German welfare state, drawing on three empirical studies conducted in Berlin (2014-2021) with rejected third-country asylum seekers and Southern and Eastern European Union citizens. It highlights how state bureaucracies implement selective access to welfare through everyday practices conceptualised as “bureaucratic violence” (Graeber, 2012), which are the product of interaction between l…
The Precarious Time of Unaccompanied Minors in Italy Between Border Regimes and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Precarious workers on the move the migrantisation of Italian healthcare professionals in Germany
This paper explores the phenomenon of ‘everyday xenoracism’ experienced by Italian healthcare workers who migrated to Germany following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite being white and from the EU, these workers face a distinct form of discrimination–‘xenoracism’–rooted in microaggressions and boundary-making practices at both the workplace and in daily life. The study highlights how this discrimination becomes internalized, leading to a form o…
Journeying Through Precarity
The present article applies a tripartite conceptualization of precarity-precariousness-precarization to examine the condition of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the basis of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with UAMs from 5 foster homes in Milan and 3 group interviews with their educators in 2022. By providing a detailed ethnographic account of UAMs' trajectories, this study distinguishes between the m…
Precarious Expats
This paper explores the complex experiences of Italian healthcare workers in Germany, focusing on the evolving meaning of the term "expat" amid increasing precarization. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study reveals how these workers navigate a dual identity, simultaneously marked by relative privilege as EU citizens and deepening vulnerability as foreign workers in the German care sector. Although often distancing themselves from the label "…
Germany, year 2020. The tension between asylum right, border control, and economy, through the imperative of deservingness
This article discusses the new asylum laws implemented in Germany from 2015 to 2020 and places them in the wider context of the bordering process developed in Europe to control migrants’ mobility since the year 2011. ‘Asylum packages’ and the Integration Act combine a restriction of asylum rights with measures to quickly channel refugees into the German labor market. Focusing on a specific regulation that aims at integrated rejected asylum-seeker…
Time-out for the outsider refugees. Ten-years of im-mobility across EU borders and outside the reception systems
This paper discusses the process of migration to Europe stressing how human mobility is governed at the global level along differential and racialized lines. Drawing on ethnographic field with a group of refugees moving from Italy to Germany from 2011 to 2021, the paper gives insights on how refugees daily negotiate the European borders and how borders affect their lives in the long-term. The research discusses the theoretical concept of ‘Departh…
Obstructing lives
This article contributes to the literature debate on local-level as a crucial arena of migration government in Europe, after the so-called ‘refugees crisis’ in 2015 and the attempt to limit migration movements towards Europe by restricting asylum rights. Drawing on 13 months of ethnographic research in Milan (Italy) between the years 2017 and 2018, we argue that the urban space can be turned into a setting of enforcing internal borders. The study…
Minor keywords of political theory
Migration as a Critical Standpointbeginning, at the center of [our] project.Thinking about the meaning of a political concept should at the same time be a means of thinking about, and of making possible ways of intervening in, the political realities of the present" (2018:1).In this spirit, we seek to unsettle and disrupt the consensus around the selection of which keywords may be counted as vital for theorizing power, and to intervene in the pol…
Local "Battlegrounds". Relocating Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance of Immigration
The multi-level governance (MLG) approach is widely used to understand the complex processes of immigration policymaking. In this literature review, we consider both (i) the vertical dimension of MLG: the local, regional, national, European, or even global level; and (ii) the horizontal dimension of MLG: the relations between public and non-public actors. While focusing on the local level, this review identifies a trend regarding, on the one hand…
Lives in Transit
This book explores the border-crossing mobilities of refugees within Europe. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Germany and Italy, it examines the precarious everyday lives of non-citizens living between and beyond EU internal borders. With attention to the constant re-construction of borders within Europe through negotiation practices, the author shows how the tensions that exist between refugees on the move and the structural constraints that l…
Into the Interstices
This article investigates the interconnections between migration to Europe for asylum and the multiple ‘crises’ of the border regime that have occurred in recent decades. Drawing on 22 months of ethnographic research with refugees in Italy and Germany, the article highlights the tensions between migration policy and legislation at the structural level and the agency of refugees. The case study focuses on a protest staged by refugees in Berlin and…
Confined to the threshold
The paper develops the concept of threshold to explore the everyday experiences of asylum seekers in Germany. It investigates how residential accommodations used as asylum seekers' camps function as border places within the national territory. It also adds to the theoretical debate on the creation of border places within national and urban territories in Europe, highlighting the existence of a plurality of camps as structures that produce the exp…
Minor keywords of political theory
Migration as a Critical Standpointbeginning, at the center of [our] project.Thinking about the meaning of a political concept should at the same time be a means of thinking about, and of making possible ways of intervening in, the political realities of the present" (2018:1).In this spirit, we seek to unsettle and disrupt the consensus around the selection of which keywords may be counted as vital for theorizing power, and to intervene in the pol…
Into the Interstices
This article investigates the interconnections between migration to Europe for asylum and the multiple ‘crises’ of the border regime that have occurred in recent decades. Drawing on 22 months of ethnographic research with refugees in Italy and Germany, the article highlights the tensions between migration policy and legislation at the structural level and the agency of refugees. The case study focuses on a protest staged by refugees in Berlin and…
Local "Battlegrounds". Relocating Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance of Immigration
The multi-level governance (MLG) approach is widely used to understand the complex processes of immigration policymaking. In this literature review, we consider both (i) the vertical dimension of MLG: the local, regional, national, European, or even global level; and (ii) the horizontal dimension of MLG: the relations between public and non-public actors. While focusing on the local level, this review identifies a trend regarding, on the one hand…
Obstructing lives
This article contributes to the literature debate on local-level as a crucial arena of migration government in Europe, after the so-called ‘refugees crisis’ in 2015 and the attempt to limit migration movements towards Europe by restricting asylum rights. Drawing on 13 months of ethnographic research in Milan (Italy) between the years 2017 and 2018, we argue that the urban space can be turned into a setting of enforcing internal borders. The study…
Confined to the threshold
The paper develops the concept of threshold to explore the everyday experiences of asylum seekers in Germany. It investigates how residential accommodations used as asylum seekers' camps function as border places within the national territory. It also adds to the theoretical debate on the creation of border places within national and urban territories in Europe, highlighting the existence of a plurality of camps as structures that produce the exp…
Germany, year 2020. The tension between asylum right, border control, and economy, through the imperative of deservingness
This article discusses the new asylum laws implemented in Germany from 2015 to 2020 and places them in the wider context of the bordering process developed in Europe to control migrants’ mobility since the year 2011. ‘Asylum packages’ and the Integration Act combine a restriction of asylum rights with measures to quickly channel refugees into the German labor market. Focusing on a specific regulation that aims at integrated rejected asylum-seeker…
Precarious workers on the move the migrantisation of Italian healthcare professionals in Germany
This paper explores the phenomenon of ‘everyday xenoracism’ experienced by Italian healthcare workers who migrated to Germany following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite being white and from the EU, these workers face a distinct form of discrimination–‘xenoracism’–rooted in microaggressions and boundary-making practices at both the workplace and in daily life. The study highlights how this discrimination becomes internalized, leading to a form o…
Time-out for the outsider refugees. Ten-years of im-mobility across EU borders and outside the reception systems
This paper discusses the process of migration to Europe stressing how human mobility is governed at the global level along differential and racialized lines. Drawing on ethnographic field with a group of refugees moving from Italy to Germany from 2011 to 2021, the paper gives insights on how refugees daily negotiate the European borders and how borders affect their lives in the long-term. The research discusses the theoretical concept of ‘Departh…
Confined to the threshold
The paper develops the concept of threshold to explore the everyday experiences of asylum seekers in Germany. It investigates how residential accommodations used as asylum seekers' camps function as border places within the national territory. It also adds to the theoretical debate on the creation of border places within national and urban territories in Europe, highlighting the existence of a plurality of camps as structures that produce the exp…
Lives in Transit
This book explores the border-crossing mobilities of refugees within Europe. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Germany and Italy, it examines the precarious everyday lives of non-citizens living between and beyond EU internal borders. With attention to the constant re-construction of borders within Europe through negotiation practices, the author shows how the tensions that exist between refugees on the move and the structural constraints that l…
Into the Interstices
This article investigates the interconnections between migration to Europe for asylum and the multiple ‘crises’ of the border regime that have occurred in recent decades. Drawing on 22 months of ethnographic research with refugees in Italy and Germany, the article highlights the tensions between migration policy and legislation at the structural level and the agency of refugees. The case study focuses on a protest staged by refugees in Berlin and…
Time-out for the outsider refugees. Ten-years of im-mobility across EU borders and outside the reception systems
This paper discusses the process of migration to Europe stressing how human mobility is governed at the global level along differential and racialized lines. Drawing on ethnographic field with a group of refugees moving from Italy to Germany from 2011 to 2021, the paper gives insights on how refugees daily negotiate the European borders and how borders affect their lives in the long-term. The research discusses the theoretical concept of ‘Departh…
Obstructing lives
This article contributes to the literature debate on local-level as a crucial arena of migration government in Europe, after the so-called ‘refugees crisis’ in 2015 and the attempt to limit migration movements towards Europe by restricting asylum rights. Drawing on 13 months of ethnographic research in Milan (Italy) between the years 2017 and 2018, we argue that the urban space can be turned into a setting of enforcing internal borders. The study…
Minor keywords of political theory
Migration as a Critical Standpointbeginning, at the center of [our] project.Thinking about the meaning of a political concept should at the same time be a means of thinking about, and of making possible ways of intervening in, the political realities of the present" (2018:1).In this spirit, we seek to unsettle and disrupt the consensus around the selection of which keywords may be counted as vital for theorizing power, and to intervene in the pol…
Local "Battlegrounds". Relocating Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance of Immigration
The multi-level governance (MLG) approach is widely used to understand the complex processes of immigration policymaking. In this literature review, we consider both (i) the vertical dimension of MLG: the local, regional, national, European, or even global level; and (ii) the horizontal dimension of MLG: the relations between public and non-public actors. While focusing on the local level, this review identifies a trend regarding, on the one hand…
Germany, year 2020. The tension between asylum right, border control, and economy, through the imperative of deservingness
This article discusses the new asylum laws implemented in Germany from 2015 to 2020 and places them in the wider context of the bordering process developed in Europe to control migrants’ mobility since the year 2011. ‘Asylum packages’ and the Integration Act combine a restriction of asylum rights with measures to quickly channel refugees into the German labor market. Focusing on a specific regulation that aims at integrated rejected asylum-seeker…
The Precarious Time of Unaccompanied Minors in Italy Between Border Regimes and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Precarious workers on the move the migrantisation of Italian healthcare professionals in Germany
This paper explores the phenomenon of ‘everyday xenoracism’ experienced by Italian healthcare workers who migrated to Germany following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite being white and from the EU, these workers face a distinct form of discrimination–‘xenoracism’–rooted in microaggressions and boundary-making practices at both the workplace and in daily life. The study highlights how this discrimination becomes internalized, leading to a form o…
Journeying Through Precarity
The present article applies a tripartite conceptualization of precarity-precariousness-precarization to examine the condition of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the basis of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with UAMs from 5 foster homes in Milan and 3 group interviews with their educators in 2022. By providing a detailed ethnographic account of UAMs' trajectories, this study distinguishes between the m…
Precarious Expats
This paper explores the complex experiences of Italian healthcare workers in Germany, focusing on the evolving meaning of the term "expat" amid increasing precarization. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study reveals how these workers navigate a dual identity, simultaneously marked by relative privilege as EU citizens and deepening vulnerability as foreign workers in the German care sector. Although often distancing themselves from the label "…
Disciplining Poverty
This article examines migrant workers’ experiences with the German welfare state, drawing on three empirical studies conducted in Berlin (2014-2021) with rejected third-country asylum seekers and Southern and Eastern European Union citizens. It highlights how state bureaucracies implement selective access to welfare through everyday practices conceptualised as “bureaucratic violence” (Graeber, 2012), which are the product of interaction between l…
Migration, Refugees, and Integration (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (8 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Refugee (7 works) · Political economy (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Economics (3 works)