Dr Raffaele Bazurli

Profile

Dr Raffaele Bazurli is a political scientist and public policy scholar at Queen Mary University of London’s School of Politics and International Relations. Currently, he is a visiting researcher at Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, where he is working on his project Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities (SPIMEC). For this research, he was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, funded by UK Research and Innovation (2023–2025).

Raffaele’s research is inherently interdisciplinary, focusing on urban governance and politics, immigrant integration and asylum, and social movements. He is interested in how local officials and grassroots activists interact to shape governance in multi-level institutional settings—sometimes subverting national policies and sparking conflicts. He explores these dynamics through the lens of immigrant and urban poor rights, with a geographic focus on Europe and Latin America. Ultimately, his work raises broader questions about cities as transformative global players, whose policy experiments can pave the way toward a more just, democratic, and sustainable future.

 Raffaele’s research has been published or is forthcoming in journals across political science, sociology, and geography, including Policy and Society; the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; South European Society and Politics; the Urban Affairs Review; Government and Opposition; Territory, Politics, Governance; the International Political Science Review; Citizenship Studies; PS: Political Science and Politics; Politiche Sociali / Social Policies; and in various edited volumes. He is also writing his first book, Insurgent Reformists: Migration Policies and Activism in Barcelona and Milan, which brings together a decade of research.

Beyond academia, Raffaele has contributed to policy reports, opinion pieces, and policy engagement initiatives, such as Barrio Saldías and SIforREF. The British Academy, the European Union, the Government of Italy, the Research Council of Norway, and UK Research and Innovation have all supported my research.

Raffaele holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Sociology from Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence (2020). Before joining the School of Politics and International Relations in 2023, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Queen Mary’s School of Geography, the University of Oslo, and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. He has also held visiting positions at The City University of New York, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Sciences Po Paris, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is a member of the Centre on Social Movement Studies (COSMOS) at Scuola Normale Superiore, The City Centre at Queen Mary, and the Soli*City network at Toronto Metropolitan University.

More information:  https://raffaelebazurli.com/  

Undergraduate Teaching

POL334 Migration and the Politics of Belonging (Teaching Associate)

Postgraduate Teaching

POLM095 International Migration and Public Policy (Guest Lecturer)

Research

Research Interests:

Current Research Project

Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities (SPIMEC)

Amid growing popularity of far-right politics and restrictive border policies, many European cities have enacted “sanctuary policies” (SPs) to support the growing number of residents with irregular migration status. Through SPs, local governments disrupt the monopoly of nation-states over immigration and citizenship, challenging conventional understandings of governance in liberal democracies. The core question of Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities (SPIMEC) is to explain the varieties, drivers, and impacts of SPs in Europe. Bridging insights from multiple disciplines, SPIMEC theorises that local governments are situated at the crossroad of political mobilisation from the bottom up and institutional restrictions from the top down. These different, often contradictory forces shape the opportunities and constraints for SPs. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in four cities (Barcelona, London, Milan, and Rotterdam), SPIMEC aims to offer both a path-breaking contribution to governance theories and viable policy solutions to cities seeking to advance immigrant rights.

For this project, Raffaele was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant reference EP/X03674X/1). He is carrying it out at under the supervision of Dr Rachel Humphris.

Past Research Projects

Uneven Urban Democracy: Inequality and Political Participation in Buenos Aires
(Period: 2020-2022; PI: Dr Sam Halvorsen; funder: The British Academy)

De-bordering Activities and Citizenship from Below of Asylum Seekers in Italy: Policies, Practices, People (PRIN-ASIT)
(Period: 2019-2022; PI: Professor Maurizio Ambrosini; funder: Government of Italy)

Mobilization Against Migration (MAM)
(Period: 2020-2023; PI: Professor Kristian Berg Harpviken; funder: Research Council of Norway)

Integrating Refugees in Society and the Labour Market Through Social Innovation (SIforREF)
(Period: 2019-2022; PI: Professor Francesca Campomori; funder: Interreg Central Europe)

Contentious Migration Policies: Dynamics of Urban Governance and Social Movement Outcomes in Milan and Barcelona
(PhD thesis, Period: 2015-2019; Supervisor: Prof. Donatella della Porta)

Learning from Innovation in Public Sector Environments (LIPSE)
(Period: 2013-2016; PI: Prof. Victor Bekkers; funder: European Commission’s 7^th Framework Programme)

More information on past research projects: https://raffaelebazurli.com/research/

Examples of research funding:

Research Funding

Horizon Europe (2023-24) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF). 100/100 score, 1st attempt. € 220,908

Urban Studies Foundation (2022-25) Urban Studies Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. 1st attempt. Offered declined to accept the MSCA-PF. £ 180,000

Queen Mary University of London (2022-23) Queen Mary Impact Fund, Large Stream (with Dr Sam Halvorsen). 1st attempt. £ 47,800

Queen Mary University of London (2022) HSS Impact Fund (with Dr Sam Halvorsen). 1st attempt. £ 2,810

Scuola Normale Superiore (2015-19) Scholarship to attend the PhD program. Approximately € 65,000

Sciences Po (2018-19) Erasmus+ scholarship. Approximately € 3,500

Autonomous University of Barcelona (2018) Erasmus+ scholarship. Approximately € 5,700

Prizes and Awards

City University of New York (2021-22) Distinguished Visiting Scholar Award by the Advanced Research Collaborative of the CUNY’s Graduate Centre. Visit cancelled due to COVID-19. $3,000

American Political Science Association (2021) Best Paper in Urban or Regional Politics presented at the 2020 APSA Annual Meeting. $ 250

European Consortium for Political Research (2020) Young scholar mobility grant to attend the 48th Joint Sessions of Workshop, April 14-17, Sciences Po-Toulouse. Event cancelled due to COVID-19. € 550 

More information: https://raffaelebazurli.com/research/

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Humphris, Rachel, Graham Hudson, and Raffaele Bazurli. Forthcoming. ‘Digital Internal Bordering: Sanctuary Cities, Data-Sharing, and Surveillance in the UK and Canada.’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Francesca Campomori. 2024. ‘Collaborative Governance in Politicized Times: The Battle Over Asylum Policies in Italian Cities.’ Policy and Society. OnlineFirst.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Pietro Castelli Gattinara. 2024. ‘The Far Right Out of Its Comfort Zone? Framing Opposition to Immigration During COVID-19 in Italy.’ Government and Opposition. OnlineFirst.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Els de Graauw. 2023. ‘Explaining Variation in City Sanctuary Policies: Insights from American and European Cities.’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 49 (14): 3649–3670.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and David Kaufmann. 2023. ‘Insurgent Asylum Policies in European Cities: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective.’ Urban Affairs Review 59 (4): 1129–1159.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Francesca Campomori. 2022. ‘Further to the Bottom of the Hierarchy: The Stratification of Forced Migrants’ Welfare Rights amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy.’ Citizenship Studies 26 (8): 1091–1116.

Bazurli, Raffaele, Tiziana Caponio, and Els de Graauw. 2022. ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Mayors, Migration Challenges, and Multi-level Political Dynamics.’ Territory, Politics, Governance 10 (3): 297–305.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Martín Portos. 2021. ‘“Crook!”: The Impact of Perceived Corruption on Non-electoral Forms of Political Behavior.’ International Political Science Review 42 (2): 245–260.

Bazurli, Raffaele. 2020. ‘How “Urban” is Urban Policy-Making?.’ PS: Political Science & Politics 53 (1): 25–28.

Bazurli, Raffaele, Francesca Campomori, and Mattia Casula. 2020. ‘Shelter from the Storm: “Virtuous” Systems of Urban Asylum Governance Coping with Italy’s Immigration Crackdown.’ Politiche Sociali / Social Policies 7 (2): 201–224.

Bazurli, Raffaele. 2019. ‘Local Governments and Social  Movements in the “Refugee Crisis”: Milan and Barcelona as “Cities of Welcome”.’ South European Society and Politics 24(3): 343–370.

Journal Edited Special Issues

Bazurli, Raffaele, Tiziana Caponio, and Els de Graauw. 2022. ‘Mayors and Migration Challenges in US and European Municipalities.’ Territory, Politics, Governance 10 (3).

Voices in Encyclopaedias

Bazurli, Raffaele. 2023. ‘Sanctuary Movements.’ In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social and Political Movements (2^nd Edition), edited by David A. Snow, Donatella della Porta, Doug McAdam, and Bert Klandermans, 1893–1895. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Book chapters

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Imrat Verhoeven. Forthcoming. ‘Contentious Governance and the City: How Urban Alliances Contest National Authority over Climate and Migration Policy.’ In Global Urban Policy, edited by David Kaufmann and Mara Sidney. Under contract with The University of Michigan Press.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Francesca Campomori. 2023. ‘Oltre la “Crisi dei Rifugiati”: Quali Lezioni da un Decennio di Governance dell’Asilo? I Casi di Bologna e Venezia.’ In Rifugiati e Solidali: L’Accoglienza dei Richiedenti Asilo in Italia, edited by Maurizio Ambrosini, 43–74. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Francesca Campomori. 2023. ‘Il Sistema di Asilo alla Prova del COVID-19: L’Esasperazione dell’Inclusione Differenziale di Richiedenti Asilo e Rifugiati.’ In Rifugiati e Solidali: L’Accoglienza dei Richiedenti Asilo in Italia, edited by Maurizio Ambrosini, 75–106. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Carlos Delclós. 2022. ‘Crimmigration and Solidarity in the Global City: The Case of Barcelona’s Street Vendors.’ In Contentious Migrant Solidarity: Shrinking Spaces and Civil Society Contestation, edited by Donatella della Porta and Elias Steinhilper, 63–82. New York: Routledge.

Book reviews

Bazurli, Raffaele. 2018. Street Politics in the Age of Austerity: From the Indignados to Occupy, edited by Marcos Ancelovici, Pascale Dufour, Héloïse Nez. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2016. Partecipazione e Conflitto – PACO 11 (3): 926–931.

Work in progress 

Bazurli, Raffaele. Insurgent Reformists: Migration Policy and Activism in Barcelona and Milan. Authored monograph. 

Bazurli, Raffaele. ‘Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities: Dismantling the Fortress from the Ground Up?’. 

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Sam Halvorsen. ‘The Ambivalence of Government Decentralisation for Poor People’s Politics: The Case of Infrastructural Upgrading in a Buenos Aires’ Informal Neighbourhood’. 

Bazurli, Raffaele, and Walter J. Nicholls. ‘Shaping Policymaking from the Ground Up: Activism and Governance in Multi-Level Institutional Settings’. Special issue. 

Public Engagement

Impact Project: Barrio Saldías

In 2022, Raffaele has been a postdoc for the project Uneven Urban Democracy: Inequality and Political Participation in Buenos Aires, led by Dr Sam Halvorsen at Queen Mary University of London. Within the context of this study, Raffaele and Dr Halvorsen conducted fieldwork research in Barrio Saldías, a small informal settlement in Buenos Aires.

Due to long-lasting invisibility, Barrio Saldías is excluded from urban development initiatives on infrastructural upgrading. Near to Saldías is Roca Museum, a public cultural institute committed to recognising this neighbourhood as an integral part of Buenos Aires’ community.

Driven by the will to forge a long-term collaboration with local residents, the museum, and other stakeholders, a major impact project has been launched titled Barrio Saldías: Visibility, Representation, and Upgrading in an Informal Neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, realised thanks to the generous support of two grants by the Queen Mary Impact Fund (£ 50.623).

This project brings together QMUL researchers and key stakeholders to unleash the transformative potential of a documentary, an exhibition, a wall painting, and a book. These interventions will raise Barrio Saldías’ profile and visibility and enhance Roca Museum’s public engagement capacity, including through fresh collaborations with UK museums. By engaging with Buenos Aires’ policy-makers, the project will spur infrastructural upgrading in and beyond Barrio Saldías.

The project is ongoing. All its outputs will be available online soon.

Policy Events

On 10 May 2023, the ISMU Foundation in Milan hosted Raffaele as a speaker for the webinar Protezione Temporanea e Accoglienza dei Profughi Ucraini in Italia e in Spagna (‘Temporary Protection and Reception of Ukrainian Forced Migrants in Italy and Spain’). where he discussed Barcelona’s asylum policies before and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The video recording of the webinar, in Italian, is available on YouTube.

On 20 October 2022, Raffaele chaired the roundtable The Politics of Refuge: Sanctuary Policies in the US, UK, and Europe, hosted by the TheoryLAB and The City Centre at QMUL. Bringing together experts on sanctuary cities in the US, UK, and Europe, the roundtable has examined how these policies differ based on national context, the existing evidence for the effects they have, the common causes shared by sanctuary localities, as well as the racialised aspects of immigration enforcement. The video recording of the event is available on YouTube.

On 10 May 2022, Raffaele chaired the webinar The Rise of Sanctuary Cities During the European ‘Refugee Crisis‘, held at the Centre for European Research, Queen Mary University of London. The event has brought together leading scholars, policy-makers, and migrant rights activists directly involved in sanctuary initiatives in Europe. The video recording of the webinar is available on YouTube. Raffaele has also written a short summary of the event in the Europe Matters Blog.

Selected Op-eds and Blogs

‘Breaking the Humanitarianism-Equity Dilemma in Health Services for Undocumented Migrants: A Response to Piccoli & Perna (2024).’ Commentary for The Ethics of Migration Policy Dilemmas project, Migration Policy Centre (MPC), European University Institute (EUI), November 2024

‘The Rise of Sanctuary Cities During the European “Refugee Crisis”.’ In Europe Matters Blog, May 2023

‘Mobilising for the Right to the City: Inequalities and Political Participation in the Neighbourhood of Saldías, Buenos Aires.’ In Uneven Urban Democracy, July 2022

‘How Corruption Drives Political Participation – and the People Most Likely to Mobilise.’ In ECPR The Loop (with Martín Portos), May 2021

‘Shelter from the Storm: ‘Virtuous’ Systems of Urban Asylum Governance Coping with Italy’s Immigration Crackdown.’ In Percorsi di Secondo Welfare (with Francesca Campomori and Mattia Casula), December 2020

‘Barcelona, a Beacon By the Sea.’ In Jacobin Magazine (with Pablo Castaño Tierno), July 2018. Arabic and Hebrew translations published in the Israeli magazine “Haokets”

Policy Briefs and Funded Research Reports

Bazurli, Raffaele and Francesca Campomori. 2021. ‘Il Sistema di Asilo alla Prova del COVID-19: L’Incremento della Stratificazione dei Diritti.’ Quaderni della Coesione Sociale / Social Cohesion Papers, 3/2021: 1-7.

Bazurli, Raffaele, Francesca Campomori, and Chiara Marchetti. 2020. ‘Dall’Emergenza Sanitaria alla Sanatoria: La Condizione degli Immigrati nella Pandemia.’ Quaderni della Coesione Sociale / Social Cohesion Papers, 3/2020: 32-40.

Nasi, Greta, Maria Cucciniello, Valentina Mele, Giovanni Valotti, and Raffaele Bazurli. 2015. ‘Policy Recommendations for Adopting, Diffusing and Upscaling ICT-Driven Social Innovation in Public Sector Organizations.’ (LIPSE policy brief). European Commission, Directorate-General for Research & Innovation.

Nasi, Greta, et al. 2015. ‘Determinants and Barriers of Adoption, Diffusion and Upscaling of ICT-driven Social Innovation in the Public Sector: A Comparative Study Across 6 EU Countries.’ (LIPSE research report). European Commission, Directorate-General for Research & Innovation

More information on outreach activities: https://raffaelebazurli.com/outreach/