This book looks at the inclusion of foreigners in social policies by comparing the cases of Argentina and France, two of the most important immigration countries in the first half of the 20th century.

As Argentina and France began introducing social policies at the turn of the 1900s, they were faced with the question of whether to include or exclude immigrants from social policy. The two countries took different approaches, driven by distinct political objectives regarding migration. Focusing mainly on Italian immigrants (the largest foreign community in both countries), the study seeks to understand the effects of social policies on migration and how migration in turn challenged social policies.

Examining the question at various levels, this book analyses the national legislation, the development of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy on migrants' social rights, and the claims of the immigrants themselves, who turned to local courts to fight for their inclusion in social policies. This interplay of scales reveals the gap between the objectives underlying national laws and their practical application.

Migrants in the Rise of Social Protection will appeal not only to students and scholars of the countries in question, but also to a readership interested in the relatively unexplored relationship between international migration and domestic social protection systems.

Federico Del Giudice is a researcher in contemporary history at the University of Turin. Over the years, his interests have spanned various fields, in particular migration, labour and environmental history. He is currently leading a project on the development of labour justice in the first half of the 20th century. He has published several articles in Italian, French, English and Spanish. In 2025 he edited the volumes Indesiderabili (with Ilaria Pavan), published by Il Mulino, and Culture, economie e politiche del bosco in Italia. Dal Medioevo all'età contemporanea (with Giacomo Bonan, Claudio Lorenzini and Giulio Taccetti) for Forum.