Taking to the street without the right to do so
This contribution questions the improbable nature of a mobilization against the discretionary closing of borders, led by asylum seekers located on the island of Lampedusa (Italy) in July 2013. These migrants are officially confined in an emergency and reception centre. Nevertheless, they succeeded in organizing a collective action held in a public space, on the one hand, and in obtaining a favorable arrangement from the public authorities, on the other. After recalling the key moments of the mobilization, this article analyzes its unfolding and consequences in light of the special space in which it took place and the resources that were mobilized and mobilizable by its protagonists. Based on a qualitative survey carried out in 2013 and 2014, we set out to determine for what reason the studied asylum seeker movement can be considered to be improbable and in so doing, contribute to recent debates on collective identity within social movements.