Narratives in power and policy design: the case of border management and external migration controls in Italy

Andrea Terlizzi

doi:10.1007/s11077-021-09440-4

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between policy narratives and the design of the Italian border management and external migration control regime in the last two decades. First, drawing from the theory of social construction and policy design and through a qualitative application of the Narrative Policy Framework, the article traces the evolution of narratives developed by key actors in government. Second, it investigates the design of the Italian externalization policy. Empirical material is drawn from government documents and decision-makers’ parliamentary interventions, press conferences, speeches, newspaper interviews and op-eds. The evidence shows that the dominant narratives have remained constant over time. Humanitarian rhetoric has been mobilized to justify and legitimize the implementation of security measures through bilateral agreements signed with African countries. The implications of such a design are relevant in that it poses serious concerns in terms of respect for migrants’ human rights. Overall, the article offers new insights into the empirical investigation of policy narratives and sheds light on the role of narratives in the social construction of migration policy design.

Highlights

In public policy analysis, a growing body of literature has turned to the study of narratives in the policy-making process (e.g., Fischer & Forester, 1993; Roe, 1994; van Eeten, 2007; Stone, 2012; Jones et al, 2014; Shanahan et al, 2018a, 2018b; Esposito et al, 2020)
This study reveals the tension between two objectives related to border management and external migration controls which go beyond this single case study
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the two ministries that are mostly involved in border management and external migration controls in Italy. These documents (N = 127) have been analyzed and coded in order to trace the development of policy narratives and cover a period from 2002 to 2018.1 In order to explore the relationship between policy narratives and policy design, bilateral agreements between Italy and several African countries have been collected (N = 12)

Summary

Introduction

A growing body of literature has turned to the study of narratives in the policy-making process (e.g., Fischer & Forester, 1993; Roe, 1994; van Eeten, 2007; Stone, 2012; Jones et al, 2014; Shanahan et al, 2018a, 2018b; Esposito et al, 2020). These documents (N = 127) have been analyzed and coded in order to trace the development of policy narratives and cover a period from 2002 to 2018.1 In order to explore the relationship between policy narratives and policy design, bilateral agreements between Italy and several African countries have been collected (N = 12). Italian government is instead constructed as the victim within a plot where the EU and/ or other EU Member States—as well as the smugglers—are the villains and EU solidarity (burden-sharing) is the moral of the story Though it has been constantly highlighted the need to fight against ‘illegal’ immigration, in very few occasions decision-makers have pointed to the need to implement safe and legal channels for asylum seekers and refugees (Fig. 9). The two countries undertook to exchange information on ‘illegal migration flows and the criminal organizations that favour them,’ creating space for police cooperation in the area of education and

Feb 2017

Discussion and conclusion

Bilateral agreements

Findings

13 December 2000 22 December 2002