Solidarity and Borders: Collective Action and Refugees in Italy and Germany

In the last few years, an increasing number of migrants sought asylum in Europe. This phenomenon triggered a series of events and processes in different domains. Among them, various episodes of collective action took place in different countries: grassroots actions and initiatives in solidarity with refugees, self-organised protests lead by the same refugees at the borders and in camps, transnational campaign demanding changes in European policies, and so on. We investigate these forms of activism in two countries: Italy (the second “country of first arrival” for refugees that come to Europe by sea, after Greece) and Germany (the place of destination that many of these migrants seek to reach). This paper aims at comparing engagement for/with refugees in the two countries, based both on qualitative interviews and on survey data. The analysis shows the analogies and differences between the two countries in terms of collective action, focusing on a wide set of factors.