| Sumario: | Over the last thirty years, borders have become increasingly diversified: border controls no longer take place only at state borders, but also within state territories. This paper critically examines the Italian military operation 'Strade Sicure' as an example of urban bordering processes. Launched in 2008 to address a 'perception of insecurity' among the Italian population, the operation has included controls of migrant reception centers and patrols in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Based on an analysis of 442 articles published by the two largest Italian dailies, I apply Fassin's moral economy of migration as a lens to analyze the imaginaries, affects, and knowledges that underpin this military operation. I argue that the debates surrounding the operation reveal an imaginary of a white Italian nation at war with racialized 'Others' who threaten its security, identity, culture, and health. At the heart of this moral economy of migration is a widely unquestioned economy of fear. By problematizing this fear as entangled with white ignorance, this paper seeks to highlight the importance of critically engaging with how particular kinds of (non-)knowledge inform imaginaries of migration.
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