By Nieves Fernández-Rodríguez & Luisa Feline Freier

Against the background of remarkable policy liberalization and the subsequent steep increase of forced displacement in Latin America, the literature on immigration and refugee policy in the region has gained momentum. Although largely overlooked, this literature has the potential to provide a corrective to political migration theory from the Global South. In this article we carry out a systematic, critical review of the regional literature along three thematic axes: legal analyses, normative and explanatory studies. Based on the review of 108 journal articles, we describe the characteristics, main contributions and research gaps of each thematic area. By analyzing legal norms and policy implementation gaps, existing studies on Latin America provide an understanding of migration policy over time and offer important empirical evidence for the advancement of political migration theory, challenging some of the main assumptions attributed to policies in the Global South. However, the lack of engagement with the broader literature and the absence of systematic analyses of its determinants and effects significantly limit the potential of this body of work. We close by making concrete suggestions of how future studies could fill existing gaps both in theoretical and empirical terms, and which methodological approach should be employed.

Comparative Migration Studies volume 12, Article number: 15 (2024)

By Marie Segrave and Stefani Vasil

This book explores the structural harm of borders and non-citizenship, specifically temporary non-citizenship, in the perpetuation of domestic and family violence (DFV). It focuses on the stories and situations of over 300 women in Australia. The analysis foregrounds how the state and the migration system both sustain and enable violence against women. In doing so this book demonstrates how structural violence is an insidious component of gendered violence – limiting and curtailing women’s safety. The Borders of Violence advances contemporary research on DFV by considering the role of the state and the migration system. It bridges different fields of scholarship to interrogate our knowledge about DFV and its impacts and improve our critical accounts of gender, structural violence and borders. It illuminates the ways in which temporary non-citizens are often silenced and/or their experiences are obfuscated by state processes, policies and practices, which are weaponised by perpetrators in countries of destination and origin, with impunity. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of border criminology, criminology, sociology, politics, sociology, law and social policy. It offers key insights for professionals, policymakers, stakeholders and advocates working broadly to support temporary non-citizens and/or to address and eliminate violence against women.

London; New York: Routledge, 2025. 223p