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In the chapter “Exceptionality and Common Features of Migration Law in the Age of Mass Migration”, featured in the volume Legal Responses to Mass Migration: From the Nineteenth Century to World War II, Michele Pifferi explores how Western countries responded to mass migration between the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Despite their differences, many states across Europe and the Americas adopted surprisingly similar legal strategies—often exceptional and outside the bounds of constitutional norms. These included the criminalization of migrants, the use of special administrative procedures, and laws influenced by racial thinking. Through a comparative lens, the chapter reveals how migration law became a tool shaped more by collective fears than by objective realities. It offers valuable historical insight into the roots of many contradictions still present in today’s migration policies. 

To download the chapter, click here.