The regulation of citizenship through social work exploitation: The Italian reception system between control and resistance

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Luca Villaggi
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/2
Language English Pages 17 P. 94-110 File size 136 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2026-002006
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The article analyses the interplay between the social construction of migrants’ citizenship and the forms of control and resistance of social workers within the Italian reception system. Drawing on empirical data collected in Bologna, the article examines how, against the backdrop of the reorganisation of migrant reception which has an increasingly residual and disciplinary character, service management engenders labour control and exploitation of reception workers, which in turn regulates asylum seekers’ and refugees’ access to citizenship. The organisation of labour processes within reception services also fosters the emergence of practices of resistance that affect social workers’ capacity to ensure that migrants can exercise their rights and access substantive forms of citizenship. The article highlights the ambivalent role played by the ethics of care, which contributes both to normalising exploitation and to shaping resistance practices, with significant implications for the realm of citizenship.

Keywords: reception system; citizenship; labour processes; ethics of care; practices of resistance.

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Luca Villaggi, The regulation of citizenship through social work exploitation: The Italian reception system between control and resistance in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2026, pp 94-110, DOI: 10.3280/MM2026-002006