Who Killed Blessing Matthew at the Franco–Italian Border? Framing Responsibility through an Analysis of the Entanglement of Law and Space

Bibliographic Data

ID13009141
AuthorsCristina Del Biaggio (0000-0001-7818-9243, Laboratoire Pacte, corresponding author), Sarah Bachellerie (Laboratoire Pacte)
Year2025
Volume14
Issue1
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueState Crime Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2046-6056 • E-ISSN: 2046-6064
PublisherPluto Journals (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.13169/statecrime.14.1.0004
OpenAlexW4415134026
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited27

This paper analyzes the “kill chain” that led to the death of Blessing Matthew, a young Nigerian woman who tried to cross the Franco–Italian Alpine border, in May 2018. It aims to deconstruct the entanglement of laws, regulations, and practices at this borderland, so as to position Matthew’s case within the broader migration and border regime and thus overcome the rhetoric of inevitability and discourse attributing the young woman’s death to the dangers of the mountain environment. The paper highlights a discrepancy between orders and practices, through a critical analysis of the mission order received by the police forces that were deployed to the border region at the time of Matthew’s death, placing responsibility on the officers who were patrolling the border zone. It also points to the liability of senior government officials in giving contradictory orders as well as to the ambiguity of the state-determined rules governing border crossings and controls

Ambiguity · Blessing · Framing (construction · Liability · Rhetoric · Ridiculous · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Theology and Sovereignty

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