The evolution of the Australian ‘ndrangheta. An historical perspective

This paper explores the phenomenon of the ‘ndrangheta – a criminal organisation from Calabria, South of Italy and allegedly the most powerful among the Italian mafias – through its migrating routes. In particular, by focusing on the peculiar case of Australia, the paper aims to show the overlapping of migrating flows with criminal colonisation, which has proven to be a strategy of this particular mafia. The paper uses the very thin literature on the subject alongside official reports and newspaper articles on migration and crime, mainly from Italian sources, to trace an historical journey on the migration of people from Calabria to Australia in various moments of the last century. The aim is to present the evolution and growth of Calabrian clans in Australia. The topic is largely unexplored and is still underreported among Australian institutions and scholars, which is why the paper chooses an historical approach to describe the principal paths in this very new field of research

27 RAPPORTO ITALIA 2015

Presentazione del 27 Rapporto Italia Eurispes, sullo stato della società, dell'economia e della politica italiana

Media Literacy in Italy

In Italy, the media literacy (ML) movement has a long grassroots tradition. Main actors are from civil society (academics, associations, church communities, teachers, media professionals, educators), with some growing support from local and national institutions. While digital literacy has stably entered the school system through funds, projects, and teaching resources aimed at improving students' digital skills, only recently has a more sociocultural view of digital technologies developed, thanks also to the National Plan for Digital School issued by the Ministry of Education in 2015. For the future, more commitment to developing the following three important directions is needed: conducting evaluative research on ML in order to have more evidence‐based knowledge of its impact on educational contexts, both formal and nonformal; enhancing training and producing quality resources for teachers and educators alike; fostering more coordination and networking among the various stakeholders involved in the field

Shari’a law in Catholic Italy: a non-agnostic model of accommodation

The Italian Constitution and its interpretation by the Constitutional Court have led to the development of a model of accommodation of religious practices that seeks to balance a commitment to promoting religious pluralism whilst, at the same time, maintaining the neutrality of state institutions. What is distinctive about this quasi-neutral constitutional stance is the commitment to reduce the discrepancies between the legal and religious effects of key life decisions. I call this stance ‘positive secularism.’ In this essay, I would like to show that, thus far, positive secularism has been particularly effective in accommodating the demands of Muslim immigrants. For instance, some aspects of the Shari’a law, such as marriage and divorce (including some effects of unilateral divorce), are already recognized by Italian international private law. The second stage for the accommodation of Shari’a law in Italy is likely to be the recognition of Islam as one of Italy’s official religions