Migration governance in border towns: Trajectories of local border governance in Trieste and Messina

This article investigates how border management and the spatial configuration of borderlands shape local migration governance, with a focus on the interactions between local governments and civil society actors. Drawing on a qualitative comparative analysis of two Italian border towns—Trieste, located along a land border, and Messina, a major sea-border disembarkation point—the study shows that geographical, political and institutional factors significantly influence the roles, agency and relationships of local actors. By bringing border management and border spatiality into the analysis of local migration governance, the article demonstrates how different border regimes produce distinct trajectories of cooperation, contention or disengagement between local governments and civil society actors. By foregrounding borders as key spatial and analytical lens, the article advances scholarship in political geography, border studies and local migration governance by introducing the concept of local border governance, which highlights how the border is enacted and contested in border towns through the involvement of multiple actors and the implementation of national and EU border policies.