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This article analyzes how forced migrants have been pushed further down in the hierarchy of social citizenship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on evidence from research in six cities of northeastern Italy, we show that their welfare... more
This article analyzes how forced migrants have been pushed further down in the hierarchy of social citizenship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on evidence from research in six cities of northeastern Italy, we show that their welfare rights have stratified due to national immigration policies that imply unequal access to social protection. Local-level forces-including regional welfare institutions, municipal governments, and civil society organizationshave either magnified or mitigated such state-driven stratification. This process resulted in uneven landscapes of social citizenship, with a minority of migrants relatively well-protected and the others entangled into downward, pandemic-induced spirals of marginalization. In this way various forms of exclusion were activated, and accumulated on, one another-what we define as COVID-19's 'ripple effect'. These findings travel beyond Italy as an exemplary case of rampant nativism and urge post-pandemic host societies to emancipate welfare rights from the immigration policies to which they are so often subordinated.
Research Interests: Sociology, Refugee Studies, Political Science, Regional and Local Governance, Local Government, and 15 moreAsylum, Social Stratification, Forced Migration, Asylum seekers, Urban Refugees, Refugees, Localism, Italy, Multi Level Governance, Citizenship studies, Multilevel governance, Refugees and Forced Migration Studies, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, Welfare Rights, and CoVid
In the super-diverse city of Birmingham, responsibilities previously transferred to local areas were reduced or re-centralised as following major cuts in national funding to the city-council. This has led to a changed terrain of policy... more
In the super-diverse city of Birmingham, responsibilities previously transferred to local areas were reduced or re-centralised as following major cuts in national funding to the city-council. This has led to a changed terrain of policy and funding schemes, where people draw on very local forms of support to counteract "centralised priorities".
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Due to China's severe shortage of energy,land,water,raw materials and other resources,to take the road of sustainable development,make the building consumption of non renewable resources as little as possible,and develop green... more
Due to China's severe shortage of energy,land,water,raw materials and other resources,to take the road of sustainable development,make the building consumption of non renewable resources as little as possible,and develop green building with energy saving and environmental protection is no time to delay.Green building refers to the buildings that provide a healthy,comfortable working,living,activity space for mankind,and at the same time to achieve the highest efficiency of energy use and the minimum impact on the environment.Green building design must consider the application of environmental protection and energy saving materials and new construction technology.
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Immigration and asylum became tremendously contested in Italy over the last decade. Especially since 2017, left-leaning executives eroded asylum rights for the sake of competing with their right-wing opponents. The climax was then reached... more
Immigration and asylum became tremendously contested in Italy over the last decade. Especially since 2017, left-leaning executives eroded asylum rights for the sake of competing with their right-wing opponents. The climax was then reached in 2018, when Matteo Salvini – leader of the far-right Lega party and newly appointed Minister of the Interior – authored the «Security Decree I» as a spearhead of his anti-immigration platform. These new provisions restricted the access to, and the contents of, international protection, along with the role of local governments in policymaking. This article explores the shockwave of this restrictive turn on «virtuous» systems of urban asylum governance, as well as their capacity for resistance. Theoretically, the study draws on the multi-level governance approach to migration studies, which is however complemented through an enhanced analytical focus on conflictual and horizontal interactions. Empirically, we present a case study research on Bologna and Parma. The asylum systems of these two cities – consisting of small-scale, high-quality reception centers and based on sustained cooperation between state and non-state actors – were put under heavy pressure. However, only Bologna proved able to (partly) resist the asylum crackdown and maintain the cooperative relations between state and non-state actors. This outcome owes to a set of driving forces at the local level – namely, a left-leaning local government and political subculture, a long-standing tradition of progressive welfare policies, and a vast constellation of civil society organizations. We suggest that these findings have significant implications for practitioners wanting to oppose anti-immigration policies locally.
Research Interests: Immigration, Political Science, Migration, Asylum, Urban Studies, and 14 moreLocal Government and Local Development, Migration Studies, Social Policies, Asylum seekers, Civil Society, Italy, Multi Level Governance, Multilevel governance, Migration policies, Parma, Bologna, Sanctuary, Immigrant integration, and Emilia Romagna
It is well known that Italy and Spain do not perform well in the management of migration. Both countries feature a high number of illegal immigrants, who populate the murky areas of the informal economy (the importance of which is another... more
It is well known that Italy and Spain do not perform well in the management of migration. Both countries feature a high number of illegal immigrants, who populate the murky areas of the informal economy (the importance of which is another common trait). Both countries are characterised by repeated attempts to find solutions to the uncontrolled in-flow of immigrants by means of a policy of regularisation which has often resulted in the unintended consequence of a ‘call-over effect’, thus heightening the presence of illegal immigration. Moreover, Italy and Spain, both traditionally countries with a high rate of migratory out-flow themselves, are relatively
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ABSTRACT The chapter brings to light the policy dimension of governance regarding migrant reception in Italy. Three regions are compared representing the so-called three (political and social) ‘Italies’: Veneto for the North,... more
ABSTRACT The chapter brings to light the policy dimension of governance regarding migrant reception in Italy. Three regions are compared representing the so-called three (political and social) ‘Italies’: Veneto for the North, Emilia-Romagna for the Centre-North and Calabria for the South. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of the main regional policy documents on the topic: ‘annual and triennial integration programmes’. In order to understand what policy control the regions actually exert, two dimensions are considered: the framing of immigrants and immigration, and the implementation structures. From the analysis, a complex patchwork of centre-periphery/state-society relations emerges, contradicting the principle of coherence which is supposed to inspire the multilevel governance of immigration in multilevel settings. Keywords: migrant reception policies, Italian regions, implementation structures, local authorites.
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Le misure di accoglienza dei richiedenti asilo e rifugiati, così come disegnate nel d.lgs. 142/2015, implicano un elevato grado di cooperazione tra i livelli di governo. La realtà mostra invece tensioni tra il Governo centrale, che punta... more
Le misure di accoglienza dei richiedenti asilo e rifugiati, così come disegnate nel d.lgs. 142/2015, implicano un elevato grado di cooperazione tra i livelli di governo. La realtà mostra invece tensioni tra il Governo centrale, che punta a dare attuazione ad una distribuzione dei profughi nei vari territori, e una parte dei Comuni che cercano di resistere a questa imposizione. Anche le relazioni tra attori pubblici e privati a livello locale non è sempre improntata alla cooperazione e si caratterizza per un’elevata complessità di configurazioni riconducibile alle caratteristiche e al posizionamento degli attori della società civile riguardo all’accoglienza dei profughi e alle misure di policy promosse dai governi locali. Il saggio analizza le dinamiche di governance multilivello nel caso specifico delle politiche di ricezione dei richiedenti asilo e rifugiati dopo la cosiddetta “crisi dei rifugiati” e dopo le novità peggiorative portate dall’entrata in vigore del decreto Salvini (n....
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This article contributes to the debate on the ‘local governance turn’ by considering a recent immigration context: the Italian case. We analyse integration policies and governance processes in three regions: Lombardy, Piedmont and... more
This article contributes to the debate on the ‘local governance turn’ by considering a recent immigration context: the Italian case. We analyse integration policies and governance processes in three regions: Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. The aim is to shed new light on the multi-level governance relations that shape immigrant integration policies, taking into account the interdependencies of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of multi-level governance. The analysis points out the emergence of different multi-level governance arrangements and highlights the relevance of institutional and organisational factors in accounting for local differentiation. General traditions and established public–non-governmental organisation relations in the social policy field, the internal organisation of the regional administration (specialised staff versus general bureaucratic apparatus), and the role of ideology appear to make a difference. The implications of this analysis for multi-le...
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The reception of asylum seekers in Italy has become an increasingly contentious issue: many actors, public and private, are involved at various levels of government, and cooperative behaviour cannot be taken for granted. The multi-level... more
The reception of asylum seekers in Italy has become an increasingly contentious issue: many actors, public and private, are involved at various levels of government, and cooperative behaviour cannot be taken for granted. The multi-level governance approach sheds light on the possible patterns in vertical relations, while it does not effectively explore the horizontal relations, which are however crucial, especially at the local level. Moreover, we argue that the definition of multilevel governance as negotiated order among public and non-public actors is too rigid and normative. Local policies of reception are instead a playing field where different actors come together with different interests, values and frames. This paper discusses the implementation of asylum seekers' reception in Italy, looking at both the multilevel and the horizontal dynamics, and it uses the concept of 'battleground' in order better to grasp the complexities of the interaction between actors. The...
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This note focuses on the regularization of immigrant workers recently approved within the framework of the Decreto Rilancio (Decree Law no 34/2020) as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic A heated debate within the Italian government has... more
This note focuses on the regularization of immigrant workers recently approved within the framework of the Decreto Rilancio (Decree Law no 34/2020) as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic A heated debate within the Italian government has preceded the final approval of the decree Even if this measure represents an encouraging step change after years of restrictive immigration policies, its concrete provisions sound timid and short-lived Notably, while the main declared objective of the Decree is to protect individual and collective health, it actually excludes many potential applicants Eligibility is indeed strictly conditional to the possession of a job in three labour market sectors only, i e , agriculture, care and domestic work Only around 200 000 people will be regularized, out of an esteem of 600 000 irregular immigrants currently living in Italy This article highlights and analyses the limits as well as the paradoxical effects of the provision It also points out the positive in...
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The idea of network is widely misused, and both scholars and practitioners often refer to it in an inaccurate meaning. Reviewing a wide number of sociological, economical and administrative theoretical studies, the aim of this paper is to... more
The idea of network is widely misused, and both scholars and practitioners often refer to it in an inaccurate meaning. Reviewing a wide number of sociological, economical and administrative theoretical studies, the aim of this paper is to outline the distinctive features of the network organisation model. The network model is then applied to Italian environmental agencies. As the system
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Innovative practices based on the involvement of citizens as co-producers of welfare local services have been increasingly adopted by the public sector to effectively tackle emerging social problems. Despite the development in the... more
Innovative practices based on the involvement of citizens as co-producers of welfare local services have been increasingly adopted by the public sector to effectively tackle emerging social problems. Despite the development in the literature on this subject, recent studies still do not clearly indicate which are the challenges for the institutionalization of such practices. By applying a governance lens to the analysis of co-production of local public services, this article aims to contribute to bridging this gap through the empirical analysis of the childcare experience in four European cities. More in detail, it debates the concepts of co-production and innovation in public service delivery within the context of the different waves of public administration reforms; and it investigates how three different sets of conditions – namely, state support and capacity; organizational cultures which support innovation; and integration with facilitative technologies – integrate to facilitate...
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The reception of asylum seekers in Italy has become an increasingly contentious issue: many actors, public and private, are involved at various levels of government, and cooperative behaviour cannot be taken for granted. The multi-level... more
The reception of asylum seekers in Italy has become an increasingly contentious issue: many actors, public and private, are involved at various levels of government, and cooperative behaviour cannot be taken for granted. The multi-level governance approach sheds light on the possible patterns in vertical relations, while it does not effectively explore the horizontal relations, which are however crucial, especially at the local level. Moreover, we argue that the definition of multilevel governance as negotiated order among public and non-public actors is too rigid and normative. Local policies of reception are instead a playing field where different actors come together with different interests, values and frames. This paper discusses the implementation of asylum seekers’ reception in Italy, looking at both the multilevel and the horizontal dynamics, and it uses the concept of ‘battleground’ in order better to grasp the complexities of the interaction between actors. The article dis...
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ABSTRACT After the federal reform of 2001, Italian regions have gained greater autonomy in matters of social policy, including immigrant integration. In this paper, we assess frames of immigrant integration in eight Italian regions, i.e.... more
ABSTRACT After the federal reform of 2001, Italian regions have gained greater autonomy in matters of social policy, including immigrant integration. In this paper, we assess frames of immigrant integration in eight Italian regions, i.e. Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in the North, Umbria, Marche and Abruzzi in the Centre, Basilicata and Calabria in the South, against the EU equal treatment and mobility rights-based regime. Through a diachronic analysis of the regions’ official documents on immigrants’ integration approved in the period 2000�2010, we shall consider: (1) the policy priorities identified and the measures funded and (2) the implementation structures. The analysis points out how the frames of immigrant integration emerging at a regional level shape different geographies of social inclusion which are sometimes openly in contradiction with the EU discourse on equal treatment and mobility rights. Immigration is perceived more as an economic asset for local labour markets’ unsatisfied demand for lowqualified, flexible, and often informal workers, rather than as a strategic resource for the realisation of a competitive and knowledge-based European economy. Keywords: immigration; immigrant integration; Italy; regional policy; EU mobility
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Blog for the Italian magazine Percorsi di Secondo Welfare (www.secondowelfare.it), based on the homonymous journal articles published in Politiche Sociali / Social Policies