focus groups in migration research a forum for public thinking

This chapter outlines how to use focus groups (FGs) in migration studies, considering this method a forum for "public thinking" and discussing controversial issues. Moreover, the use of FGs allows us to understand the process of creating consensus and dissent via interaction. The chapter is structured in five sections: the first one introduces what FGs are and why they are useful for migration research; the second focuses on how to build the groups and how to do comparative migration research with FGs; the third illustrates how to prepare and to facilitate group discussion, and how to ask questions and engage participants in collaborative migration research; the fourth introduces how to interpret discussions and how to analyse the everyday naturalization of nation, ethnicity and race; the final section discusses how to communicate FG results. Each section is devoted to a specific methodological issue and it includes at least one "box" with an example from European migration research

Mid-term review- UK Roma national integration strategy: Roma at the intersection of ethnic-inclusive, post-racial and hyper-ethnic policies

Rather than developing a specific strategy to promote Roma integration, the UK government decided to use mainstream legislation. However, the complex mechanisms of UK policy-making, means that responsibility for integration is defused. Because of the devolved governmental systems and the localisation agenda, Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) populations often find that they are subject to different forms of inclusion and exclusion depending on their specific geopolitical location. In this paper, the authors suggest that in addition to experiencing the impact of devolution, ‘mainstreaming’ approaches to Roma integration are failing because GTR communities find themselves located at the intersection of three different policy ideologies in the UK: ‘ethnic inclusive policies’ (that seek to promote Roma inclusion), ‘post racial policies’ (that obscure-specific forms of structural inequalities) and ‘hyper-ethnic’ policies, (targeted in a discriminatory manner towards certain communities). With the British about to exit from the European Union, concerns are also being raised about the future of Roma communities and the commitment to their inclusion

L'imprenditore assistito. Industria, intervento pubblico e cultura imprenditoriale in un sistema marginale

Il volume presenta i risultati di una ricerca sui rapporti di alleanza e mutuo scambio fra amministratori pubblici e imprese, in un contesto di tradizionale incompletezza della matrice industriale e di debole dinamismo dell'economia nelo settore secondario. L'indagine pone in risalto, mediante somministrazione di interviste a imprenditori e ad esponenti del mondo politico locale (area socio-economica della provincia di Catania), le espressioni e i commenti suscitati dalla evidente e marcata contiguità operativa tra gli uni e gli altri, con chiari effetti di depressione e stagnazione del sistema produttivo

Mafia, estorsioni e regolazione dell\u2019economia nell\u2019altra Sicilia

Il lavoro analizza la trasformazione del fenomeno estorsivo durante gli anni della crisi in un contesto tradizionalmente percepito a minore intensit\ue0 mafios

Disuguaglianze sociali oggi : territori, lavoro, societ\ue0

After an Introduction by the editors, the volume offers a selection of the best papers presented at the annual conference of the economic section of the Italian Sociological Association, held in Naples in 2007. The general theme of the conference regarded the current characteristics of social inequalities. The contributions collected approached the general theme focusing on diverse topics from a wide range of different perspectives