‘Vaccine populism’ and migrant assistance: On the contingency of mutual aid in Italy's Alpine region
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| Author | Elizabeth Storer,Costanza Torre |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13211 |
24
|
Global Policy. 2024;15(Suppl. 4):24 –35.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gpol
1 | REVISITING COVID- 19
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE
Suspicion of real and imagined mobili ties was a contin-
ual feature of COVID- 19. During emergency periods of
the pandemic, European nations embarked on profound
reconfigurations and extensions of their le gal capaci-
ties, to restrict movement in the name of public health.
The realities of such emergency governance were felt
most acutely by minoritised groups, already rendered
peripheral to states through limited citizenship rights,
particularly those at state borders (Çağl ar, 2022). As
the crisis rescinds, and the virus it self is characterised
as ‘endemic’, it is important to chart the proces ses of
dispossession and disenfranchisement sanctioned
through pandemic policies (Sitrin & Sembrar,2020).
Against deep contemporary uncertainties wrought by
the COVID- 19 pandemic across Europe, vaccinations
provided a semblance of hope about a return to nor-
malcy. In Italy— following the profound suffering which
characterised the onset of the pandemic — the vaccination
campaign has been lauded as widely su ccessful (D'Errigo
et al.,2022). Yet, measures of success reliant on reach,
disregard the socio- political li ves of vaccination cam-
paigns (Storer et al.,2022). Questions remain as to the
contemporary and lingering ef fects of populist approaches
to public health which equated getting vac cinated to a
moral imperative to protect the nation. During vaccination
roll- out, resistance was self- evident across Italy, where
anti- vax movements contested aspec ts of the campaign
as representing vehicle of elite control (Rietdijk, 2 021).
This study responds to a recognit ion of the need for social
science perspectives to investigate the ‘unintende d’ con-
sequences of vaccination campaigns (Dada et al 2020). It
turns to their effects at neglected border s.
Specifically, this paper explores the intersection of
COVID- 19 vaccination with border sec uritisation and
migrant exclusion. We focus on how populist narratives
interfaced with activities of health and h umanitarian
actors. Drawing on ethnographic evidence c ollected
RESEARCH ARTICLE
‘Vaccine populism’ and migrant assistance: On the
contingency of mutual aid in Italy's Alpine region
ElizabethStorer | CostanzaTorre
Received: 2 Novem ber 2022
|
Revis ed: 27 March 2023
|
Acce pted: 28 March 2023
DO I: 10 .1111/17 58- 589 9.13 211
This is an open ac cess article under t he terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2023 The Authors . Global Policy published by Durham Universi ty and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Firoz Lalji Insti tute for Africa, London
School of Economics and Political
Science, Lond on, UK
Correspondence
Elizabeth Storer, Firoz L alji Institute for
Africa, London School of Economics and
Political Science, London, UK.
Email: e.storer@lse.ac.uk
Funding information
British Acad emy, Grant/Award Number:
COVG7210058; European Commission,
Grant/Award Numb er: 101016233; UK
Economic and So cial Research Counc il,
Grant/Award Numb er: ES/W00786X/1
Abstract
Prior to COVID- 19, migrant journeys through the Medi terranean were often de-
scribed with reference to the barriers pose d within ‘fortress Europe’ or through
registers which centre migrant's ade ptness at navigating draconian immigration
regimes. Between these two contexts, t his paper explores how a public authority
lens can assist in understanding t he implications of COVID- 19 and associated
vaccine bureaucracies. We draw on ethnographic research o n the Italian- French
Alpine border and chart how ‘vacc ine populism’— perpetuated in nati onalist po-
litical discourse as well as in the cou nter- commentaries of resistanc e offered by
solidarity networks — has specific implications for mi grants' access to vaccines
and health information. We argue that analyses attentive to the subtle nuances
of state and local politics provide an impor tant entry point to map multi- scalar
power dynamics which accompany universa l health policies. Through consid-
ering the complex realities relating to Alpine cros sings, we advocate from less
categorising approaches to vaccinating migrants.
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