Monitoring or Selecting? Security in Italy Between Surveillance, Identification and Categorisation

In contemporary Italy, security (sicurezza) has become a relevant issue with regard to the fields of immigration and urban governance. Progressively, the idea that keeping the population safe means increasing surveillance on a wide set of social features and behaviours has gained increasing credibility. While the central government has enacted laws and decrees that have broadened mayors’ powers concerning urban security (sicurezza urbana), several local authorities have issued orders and other kinds of administrative provisions through which they have tried to regulate many aspects of social life. Often, these municipal authorities have overstepped their powers, de facto exercising responsibilities that are the de jure prerogative of the central government.