Luigi Achilli is senior researcher at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He taught at Cambridge, SOAS,
and various universities in the Middle East. His research and writing focus on irregular migration, transnational crime, refugee studies, political engagement and nationalism, and the Palestinian issue. Ethnographic in approach, his work is based on extensive field research in the in the Middle East, Southern Europe, and Mexico. Over the years, he has conducted research and authored several among reports and policy briefs for the use of policy makers and practitioners – including, but not limited to the European Commission, the UNs, FCDO, and INGOs. His previous research in Jordan has culminated with the publication of a monograph about Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan: “Palestinian Refugees and Identity: Nationalism, Politics and the Everyday” (I.B. Tauris, 2015). In 2017, Achilli was awarded with a Marie Curie Global Fellowship for his research project “MAPS – Migrant and People Smuggler, “a comparative analysis of the US-Mexico border and the Mediterranean smuggling routes. On this and related topics, Achilli published several articles and other influential work. He is currently co-editing the new edition of “Global Migrant Smuggling” (John Hopkins UP, New York, 2021). Among his many other recent publications on the topic, Achilli was also the co-editor of the special issue for the American Academy of Political and Social Science “Crimes of Solidarity in Mobility: Alternative Views on Migrant Smuggling” (ANNALS 2018).
