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Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 12:1 (2026) ► pp.3–30

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The (in)visibility of solidarity struggles and refuge in the Linguistic Landscape of the Italian/French Western Alps

ORCiD logo with link | University of Padova
Published online: 9 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.25002.hel
Abstract
This article looks at the (in)visibility of solidarity struggles and refuge in the Italian/French Western Alps borderland through the study of Linguistic Landscapes in this space of transit. Drawing from critical migration studies and in particular critical border studies, it focuses on two terms/concepts, ‘solidarity’ and ‘refuge’, which have come under scrutiny in recent years in Europe following the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ of 2015 and the more recent criminalisation of solidarity (De Genova, Nicholas & Martina Tazzioli (Eds.) (2022). Minor keywords of political theory: Migration as a critical standpoint. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(4), 781–875. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Under the lens are graffiti in the public landscape and signs and drawings in the private Linguistic Landscapes of refuges providing solidarity for people in transit.
Riassunto
Questo articolo esamina l’(in)visibilità delle lotte di solidarietà nella zona di confine tra le Alpi occidentali italiane e francesi attraverso lo studio del Linguistic Landscape (panorami linguistici) in questo spazio di transito. Attingendo agli studi critici sulla migrazione e in particolare agli studi critici sulle frontiere (critical border studies), si concentra su due concetti, ‘solidarietà’ e ‘rifugio’, che sono stati oggetto di attenzione negli ultimi anni in Europa a seguito della cosiddetta ‘crisi migratoria’ del 2015 e della più recente criminalizzazione della solidarietà (De Genova, Nicholas & Martina Tazzioli (Eds.) (2022). Minor keywords of political theory: Migration as a critical standpoint. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(4), 781–875. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Al cuore dell’analisi ci sono i graffiti nel paesaggio pubblico e i cartelli e i disegni nei panorami linguistici dei rifugi che offrono solidarietà alle persone in transito.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Solidarity and refuge
  • 3.Literature review
  • 4.The context
  • 5.Methods
    • 5.1Data collection and analysis
  • 6.Findings
    • 6.1The public Linguistic Landscape
    • 6.2The refuges
      • 6.2.1Regulatory and informative signs inside the refuges
      • 6.2.2The ‘art wall’ at Fraternità Massi
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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