“Gli africani di colore, per dire, mai visti dediti al taccheggio!”. Riflessioni critiche sulla costruzione dell’alterità in ambito penale

In Italy, immigration is deeply intertwined with public discourses, media narratives, political agendas, and control practices, with state institutions – including the judicial system – playing a decisive role in defining and regulating it. Based on ethnographic research conducted in the courts of Milan and Turin, this article examines how magistrates define and interpret foreign criminality over time. We argue that these interpretations are shaped by a series of “categorization devices” firmly rooted in specific and static ethno-national categories. Ultimately, the criminal justice system emerges as a key site where stereotypical representations are normalised and otherness is incorporated into judicial practices.