Very sneaky crimes. Squatting, urban security, and class anthropopoiesis in Milan (Italy)

Milan is an increasingly safe city. Despite this, the insecurity perceived by citizens is growing. Particularly in social housing districts, squatting is considered by institutions, public opinion, but also by most regular residents, as one of the principle causes of urban insecurity. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Milan between 2015 and 2017, this article proposes an anthropological analysis of policies, norms, practices, and narratives related to the governance of housing il- legality, showing how these representations contribute to producing a stigmatized, morally connoted, and criminalized image of squatters. In broader terms, starting with the ethnographic case of squatting, the article explores the anthropopoietic dynamics of social class construction and the centrality of moral categories in the production of urban inequality.