87161 - Criminology Of The Borders

Learning outcomes

The course is designed to give students a general overview and understanding of the international and European criminological debate concerning border control and a detailed knowledge of key topics and key scholars in the field. Students are expected to be able to combine their knowledge of different contexts and disciplinary approaches when analysing border policies. The goal of the course is that students acquire the competences and knowledge necessary to analyze critically the contemporary policies of border control in different contexts, also in view of possible fields of work and research: border police, the role and functioning of administrative detention and deportation, the international relations of the externalization of borders, the use of criminal law in border control.

Course contents

For exchange students: the admission to this course (optional courses of the LM in IR) is allowed to incoming students at Master level. As for undergraduate students, they must demonstrate to the Professor having already acquired competences in the disciplines of criminology and sociology in their respective Transcripts of Records.

The course is organized around lectures and seminar activities, as detailed in the course programme and syllabus, which will be made available on the University's online learning platform (VIRTUALE) before the beginning of the semester.

The course examines contemporary debates in the field of border criminology, an interdisciplinary area of research that brings together insights from criminology, border studies, and critical migration studies. Border criminology explores the transformations of border control and their implications for criminal justice systems, punitive practices, forms of sovereignty, processes of inclusion and exclusion, and the production of political and social belonging.

Drawing on a critical criminological perspective, the course analyses the role of legal norms, institutions, public policies, and social discourses in the regulation of contemporary mobility. Particular attention is devoted to processes of migrant illegalization, administrative detention, expulsion and deportation, as well as border policing practices and the use of criminal and administrative law in migration control.

The analysis focuses primarily on the European context from a comparative and transnational perspective. Special attention is paid to the intersection of racialization, social class, and gender in the production and implementation of migration and border control policies. Alongside processes of securitization, the course also addresses issues such as humanitarian forms of control, border externalization, the role of European agencies, digital surveillance technologies, and emerging forms of mobility governance.

The course combines theoretical lectures and seminar activities. In addition to discussing the main concepts and debates within border criminology, students will engage in the critical analysis of empirical research on borders, mobility, and migration control. Seminar activities are designed to develop students' ability to read, present, and critically discuss academic articles, with particular attention to research questions, methodologies, empirical materials, and research findings.

 

Course Structure and Weekly Topics

Part I: Key Concepts and Debates in Border Criminology

• Introduction to Critical Criminology and Border Criminology
• Border Criminology from the Peripheries: Southern Perspectives and the Dimensions of Race, Class, and Gender
• The Production of Migrant Illegality and the Spectacularization of the Border
• Border Performativity and the Multi-Scalar Governance of Migration
• The Concept of Crimmigration and Major Critiques of the Crimmigration Paradigm
• Administrative Detention: Definitions, Practices, Functions, and Contemporary Transformations
• Deportability, Expulsions, and Deportation Regimes
• Border Policing, Discretion, and Internal Borders
• Humanitarian Borders and the Criminalization of Asylum Seekers
• Border Externalization

Part II: Case Studies and Guest Lectures

• Temporal Borders and the Politics of Waiting
• War Criminology and Palestine
• The Italian Centres in Albania
• Smuggling and Human Trafficking
• Frontex and the European Governance of Borders
• Digital Borders, Surveillance, and the Algorithmic Control of Mobility

Conclusion

 

Readings/Bibliography

For Attending Students

Attending students will be assigned readings, primarily academic journal articles and book chapters, which will vary according to the topics covered in class.

The complete list of readings, organized according to the topics of each lecture, will be uploaded to the University's online learning platform (VIRTUALE) before the beginning of the course.

 

For Non-Attending Students

Non-attending students are required to study:

All of the following articles and book chapters:

• Bosworth, M., Franko, K., & Pickering, S. (2018). Punishment, Globalization and Migration Control: "Get Them the Hell Out of Here". Punishment & Society, 20(1), 34-53.
• De Genova, N. (2002). Migrant "Illegality" and Deportability in Everyday Life. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31, 419-447.
• Wonders, N. (2006). Global Flows, Semi-Permeable Borders and New Channels of Inequality: Border Crossers and Border Performativity. In S. Pickering & L. Weber (Eds.), Borders, Mobility and Technologies of Control (pp. 63-86). Heidelberg: Springer.
• Stumpf, J. (2006). The Crimmigration Crisis: Immigrants, Crime, and Sovereign Power. American University Law Review, 56(2), 367-419.
• Aas, K. F. (2013). The Ordered and the Bordered Society: Migration Control, Citizenship and the Northern Penal State. In K. F. Aas & M. Bosworth (Eds.), The Borders of Punishment: Migration, Citizenship and the Northern Penal State (pp. 20-39). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bowling, B. (2013). The Borders of Punishment: Towards a Criminology of Mobility. In K. F. Aas & M. Bosworth (Eds.), The Borders of Punishment: Migration, Citizenship and the Northern Penal State (pp. 291-306). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Weber, L., & McCulloch, J. (2019). Penal Power and Border Control: Which Thesis? Sovereignty, Governmentality, or the Pre-Emptive State? Punishment & Society, 21(4), 496-514.

The introductory chapter and three chapters of the student's choice from the following volume:

• Brandariz, J. A., Fabini, G., Fernández-Bessa, C., & Ferraris, V. (Eds.) (2025). Border Criminology from the Peripheries: Cross-National Conversations on Bordered Penality. Routledge.

Two monographs chosen from the list below (the list is not exhaustive; alternative monographs may be agreed upon with the lecturer):

• Di Molfetta, E. (2024). Delivering Justice to Non-Citizens: How Criminal Courts Create Borders and Boundaries. Routledge.
• Soliman, F. (2024). Social Harm at the Border: The Case of Lampedusa. Routledge.
• Campesi, G. (2023). Policing Mobility Regimes: Frontex and the Production of the European Borderscape. Routledge.
• Sitkin, L. (2019). Re-thinking the Political Economy of Immigration Control: A Comparative Analysis. Routledge.
• Canning, V. (2019). Gendered Harm and Structural Violence in the British Asylum System. Routledge.
• Milivojevic, S. (2018). Border Policing and Security Technologies: Mobility and the Proliferation of Borders in the Western Balkans. Routledge.
• Barker, V. (2017). Nordic Nationalism and Penal Order: Walling the Welfare State. Routledge.
• Aliverti, A. (2014). Crimes of Mobility: Criminal Law and the Regulation of Immigration. Routledge.
• Weber, L. (2013). Policing Non-Citizens. Routledge.
• Aliverti, A. (2021). Policing the Borders Within. Oxford University Press.
• Korkmaz, E. E. (2024). Smart Borders, Digital Identity and Big Data: How Surveillance Technologies Are Used Against Migrants. Bristol University Press.
• Iliadou, E. (2023). Border Harms and Everyday Violence: A Prison Island in Europe. Bristol University Press.
• Moffette, D. (2018). Governing Irregular Migration: Bordering Culture, Labour, and Security in Spain. University of California Press.
• Mutsaers, P. (2019). Police Unlimited: Policing, Migrants, and the Values of Bureaucracy. Oxford University Press.
• Bosworth, M. (2014). Inside Immigration Detention. Oxford University Press.
• Lindberg, A. (2022). Deportation Limbo: State Violence and Contestations in the Nordics. Manchester University Press.

Teaching methods

The course combines different teaching methods with the aim not only of providing students with advanced knowledge in the field of border criminology, but also of developing their critical thinking and analytical skills. Lectures will introduce the main concepts, theoretical approaches, and debates within the field, while seminar activities will focus on the discussion of scientific articles and empirical research on borders, mobility, and migration control. Students will be actively involved in reading, presenting, and critically discussing academic literature, with particular attention to research questions, methodologies, empirical materials, and research findings. Active participation will be strongly encouraged throughout the course.

Assessment methods

 

Attending Students

Attending students will be assessed through three components:

• Mid-term exam: 40% of the final grade
• Presentation of an academic article: 20% of the final grade
• Final written essay: 40% of the final grade

The final grade will be calculated as a weighted average of the three components.

To be considered an attending student, participation in at least 75% of class sessions is required.

 

Mid-Term Exam

The mid-term exam will take the form of a written assessment administered through the University's EOL platform.

The exam will consist of three open-ended questions to be completed within 90 minutes.

To pass the mid-term exam, students must provide a satisfactory answer to all three questions.

Assessment will take into account:

• understanding of the key concepts and debates discussed in the course;
• ability to refer appropriately to the relevant literature;
• clarity and coherence of written expression;
• ability to synthesize complex issues;
• appropriate use of disciplinary terminology.

 

Presentation of an Academic Article During the course

Students will present an empirical academic article assigned by the lecturer.

Presentations should focus on the following aspects:

• research question;
• methodology;
• empirical data and evidence;
• main findings;
• one strength and one limitation of the study.

Presentations should not exceed 10 minutes and must be supported by a maximum of five slides.

Students are not expected to provide an in-depth presentation of the article's theoretical framework, which will be discussed during class sessions.

Presentations will be organised in thematic groups and followed by a collective discussion.

Assessment will take into account:

• understanding of the assigned article;
• ability to present methodology and findings effectively;
• capacity for critical discussion;
• clarity of presentation;
• compliance with the allocated time limit.

 

Final Essay

Students are required to submit an individual essay of 3,000 words (+/- 10%). The reference list is excluded from the word count.

The topic must be agreed upon with the lecturer via email by the end of the course. Any subsequent modifications must be communicated to and approved by the lecturer.

The essay must be submitted by email no later than midnight on the day of the examination session.

No oral defence of the essay is required.

Assessment will take into account:

• ability to engage appropriately with academic literature;
• quality of argumentation;
• conceptual accuracy;
• depth of analysis;
• originality of interpretation;
• ability to connect theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence;
• quality of academic writing;
• scope and relevance of the bibliography;
• proper use and citation of sources.

 

Guidelines for the Final Essay

The final essay must be based on the analysis of an empirical case related to mechanisms of border control, mobility governance, or migration control in contexts located in either the Global North or the Global South. The empirical case may be based on:

• reports produced by international organisations and NGOs (e.g. Amnesty International, MSF, IOM, ISMU);
• well-documented journalistic investigations;
• public databases and institutional sources (e.g. Eurostat, Frontex, the Global Detention Project, national databases on administrative detention, reports by Ombudspersons or equivalent oversight bodies);
• original research conducted by the student (interviews, observation, independent collection of data or documents).

The purpose of the essay is not to describe the selected case but to analyse it critically using the theoretical and conceptual tools developed throughout the course.

Students are expected to:

• clearly present the case study;
• identify relevant criminological issues;
• discuss the case in relation to the course literature;
• develop an original and well-argued interpretation of the phenomena under examination.

The essay must include a complete bibliography and demonstrate an accurate and critical use of sources.

 

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Students may use generative Artificial Intelligence tools to support study activities, writing, and language revision. The use of such tools does not replace the reading of sources, the critical analysis of academic literature, or the independent development of academic arguments. Students remain fully responsible for the content of their work. For both the presentation and the final essay, students must include a brief statement specifying:

• whether Artificial Intelligence tools were used;
• which tools were used;
• for what purposes they were used.

Failure to disclose the use of Artificial Intelligence tools may be considered a breach of academic integrity regulations.

 

Non-Attending Students

Students who do not regularly attend classes will be assessed through a final oral examination based on the materials listed in the bibliography section for non-attending students.

The oral examination will focus on three main areas:

• the principal concepts and theoretical debates within border criminology;
• the perspectives developed within Southern Border Criminology, with particular attention to the volume Border Criminology from the Peripheries;
• the two monographs selected by the student, which must be discussed critically and related to the main themes of the course.

Assessment Criteria Assessment will take into account:

• knowledge of the concepts and theoretical debates addressed in the course;
• ability to connect theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence;
• critical understanding of the assigned readings;
• ability to discuss and contextualise the selected monographs;
• clarity of expression and appropriate use of disciplinary terminology;
• independent judgement and the ability to develop autonomous and well-supported arguments.

Teaching tools

Teaching activities will make use of PowerPoint presentations, academic articles, book chapters, audio-visual materials, reports produced by international organizations, policy documents, and institutional sources concerning borders, mobility, and migration control. Course materials will be made available through the University’s online learning platform (VIRTUALE) and will support seminar activities, case-study analysis, and classroom discussions.

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Fabini