This book provides a critical analysis of irregular migration to Europe from a neo-Gramscian perspective. It demonstrates how the contemporary EU migration management regime came about within the context of a neoliberal hegemonic project, which in turn was advanced using neofunctionalist methods of integration. Relying on field research that was carried out in Bulgaria, Italy, Germany and Greece, the book also describes how European migration management is experienced by irregular migrants themselves. It suggests that the social purpose of migration management cannot be understood without assessing the experiences of the objects of migration regimes. The 2015 migration crisis revealed that large-scale migration has the potential to