Border Infrastructures: Migration Governance and Human Mobility

The event is part of the Dispute series and is organised in collaboration with Embassy of Switzerland in Italy. Migration is governed not only at borders, but through a complex network of infrastructures, institutions and practices that shape mobility, access to rights, and the possibilities of belonging. From border surveillance and digital registration systems to asylum procedures, healthcare and social services, these infrastructures determine how people on the move are identified, classified, and managed, often extending the reach of border control far beyond the territorial frontier. How do these infrastructures shape the ways migration is understood and governed? And how are responsibility, rights, and possibilities for protection negotiated across the different actors and institutions involved? Bringing together researchers and practitioners from Switzerland and Italy, this workshop examines the technological, political, and social dimensions of contemporary migration governance. It explores the production of knowledge about migration, the institutional and international arrangements through which border control is organised, and the ways migration policies are experienced and negotiated in everyday life. Particular attention is given to the relationship between physical and digital infrastructures, the distribution of responsibility across state and non-state actors, and the implications of these systems for the lives and rights of migrants. The annual series Dispute at Istituto Svizzero provides a platform for citizen engagement relating to the globalization and the future of contemporary societies. Proposing a new topic every year, the forum aims to strengthen civic participation and public debate. Previous editions featured debates on migration, democracy, humanitarian law and the future of work.