Making Space, Making Place: Digital Togetherness and the Redefinition of Migrant Identities Online

Immigrants have played a fundamental role in shaping the life and form of urban public spaces for generations. Their efforts, as many scholars have observed, mostly aimed at creating places of comfort in new and sometimes hostile receiving countries. In recent years, the combined contribution of the built environment and screen-based experiences have shaped migrants’ sense of community and belonging, thus making the concept of online community central to ideas about space and public life. Drawing upon a 3-year online ethnography, the article discusses to what extent new media constitute spaces of digital togetherness, where diasporic experiences and transnational identities are constructed and negotiated. It presents a transnational model of creative media consumption, which helps give insight as to how diasporas and ethnic minorities contribute to the transformation of public space in the Digital Age

Heritage buildings as a contribution to the contemporary city: the relocation of Braga’s District Archive

This paper reflects on the ability to adapt buildings with relevant heritage and historical value to different uses and functions. A case study is presented: The relocation of Braga?s District Archive from the former Archbishop?s Palace in Largo do Paço, a building dating back to the XIVth century confined within the Historical Center?s buffer zone, into a modernist building located in Abade Loureira street, North of the original complex and outside the medieval walled city. The methodological approach and the processes associated with the intervention are presented according to the analysis of the proposed program, rather than by the formal and symbolic features of the building itself. Extensive in-situ surveys took place at the two buildings, comparing both the present and the proposed solution. Based on this analysis, the Program?s adequacy is discussed, displaying the advantages and disadvantages of this change and how it may affect the mission of the District Archive

Food, flavouring and feed plant traditions in the Tyrrhenian sector of Basilicata, Italy

BACKGROUND: Research was carried out in the years 2002–2003 into food, flavouring and feed folk traditions of plants in the Tyrrhenian part of the Basilicata region (southern Italy). This area was colonized in ancient times by Greeks. Data was collected through field interviews, especially of farmers. METHODS: Field data were collected through structured interviews. The informants, numbered 49, belonged to families which had strong links with the traditional activities of the area. RESULTS: 61 taxa are cited, belonging to 26 botanical families, amongst which 44 used as food or flavouring and 22 for animal alimentation. Besides 7 taxa are involved in rituals especially connected with agriculture and plant growth. CONCLUSION: The preservation of some rituals especially concerning agricultural plants is noteworthy in the area, together with a certain degree of continuity in food uses. Knowledge and rediscovery of recipes in human and animal diet could represent an economic potential for the area

dispersal and reception in northern italy comparing systems along the brenner route

In the last decades, policy restrictions and practices at national and local levels have curtailed the rights of seekers and holders of international protection, thus impacting on their lives and on the territories they transit through. This is particularly evident in border contexts. Various border areas have gradually transformed into internal hotspots, with increasing border enforcement. This includes Brenner, situated at the border between Italy and Austria. In the wider Brenner route area, particularly in the nearby Italian cities of Verona, Trento and Bolzano, "spaces of transit" have emerged and both public and humanitarian actors have been "forced" to deal with it. This chapter draws upon the work of the multilevel governance of migration (Caponio and Borkert 2010), and on the proliferation of borders (Mezzadra and Neilson 2016), to present a comparative analysis of the reception scenario in these three cities. By building on qualitative data analysis (legal analysis of policy documents, content analysis of interviews and newspaper articles), it discusses to what extent and how the respective local systems of reception have managed to cater for migrants that transit through them. Similarities and differences are pointed out, as well as the relevance of factors such as geographical proximity in influencing the respective approaches

Il Centauro Anglo-Americano: Atti del XVII Convegno dell'Associazione Italiana di Anglistica. Vol II: British/American variation in language, theory and methodology

This volume is based on the linguistic section of the 17th annual AIA conference