With contributions from leading scholars in Southern Europe, this compelling book demonstrates the plurality of migratory circumstances and analyses the significance of the Mediterranean migration model. Highlighting the challenges of studying the variability and heterogeneity of migratory patterns in the Mediterranean, this insightful book provides a comprehensive examination of the spatial-temporal scales and sedimentation of different migratory configurations. Chapters explore the continuities between colonial past, postcolonialism and migration; the integration and exploitation in the labour market; and the impact of political discourses on migrants and non-migrants. Contributors analyse the links between race and gender relations, colonialism, and migration policies across countries including Greece, Italy, Lebanon, the Maghreb region, and Spain. Proposing that the ‘principle of coexistence’ can be an interpretive tool for studying migration in the Mediterranean, this book will be essential for students and researchers in comparative social policy, cultural sociology, development studies, history and migration studies. It will also be beneficial for policymakers and practitioners in national and international political bodies and agencies.

This book brings an intersectional perspective to border studies, drawing on case studies from across the world to consider the ways in which notably gender and race dynamics change the ways in which people cross international borders, and how diffuse and virtual borders impact on migrants' experiences. By bringing together 11 ethnographies, the book demonstrates the necessity for in-depth empirical research to understand the class, gender and race inequalities that shape contemporary borders. In doing so the volume sheds light on how migration control produces gendered violence at physical borders but also through the politics of vulnerability across borders and social boundaries. It places embodied narratives at the heart of the analysis which sheds light on the agency and the many patterns of resistance of migrants themselves. As such, it will appeal to scholars of migration and diaspora studies with interests in gender.