Introduction

The role played by non-state actors, and in particular by humanitarian ones, within the governance of international migration is an object of debate in the literature. By investigating the role played by mainstream humanitarian organizations on the southern European border, this research aims to (a) further investigate the political forms taken by humanitarianism on the ground, and (b) explore if and how mainstream humanitarian organizations are able to challenge the current border management system. Recently, the literature highlighted that grassroots humanitarian actors counter both mainstream humanitarianism—mainly seen as complicit of the state—and governments. In this respect, this research also explores (a) if and how mainstream humanitarian organizations’ discourses and practices are different from/similar to those of grassroots groups, and (b) what are the implications of these differences/similarities in terms of contributing to the (de)politicization of the current system. The research is based on ten months of fieldwork carried out in Sicily between 2017 and 2018, and it uses three main methods: document analysis, semi-structured interviews and direct observation. The book contributes to refining the discussion on the (de)politicizing role of humanitarianism by arguing that the view of humanitarian action as exclusively complicit with state-driven goals seems to be too narrow. The book argues that the issue at stake—on which further research would be needed—is more about the forms and the limits of the politicization to which humanitarian actors contribute.