In the Shadow of Bell Towers: The Use of Religious Capital among Christian-Catholic Second Generations in Italy

Evidence from some contemporary ethnic groups suggests that ethnic religion may play a strong role in the lives of second generation members. This is evident in recent studies on Muslims living in Europe. But Europe's immigrant population is not just Muslim in origin. Migratory flows from Latin America, the Philippines and Eastern Europe (i.e. Romania or Ukraine) bring people from Catholic and Christian countries to Europe. And—as in the Italian case—these groups are now the majority among the whole immigrant population. Consequently, the almost exclusive focus on the Islamic component has allowed little investigation of the increase of the Christian-Catholic component. The paper describes and compares the religious paths of immigrants' youth from Peru, the Philippines and Romania, considering the following questions: How do they interact with/develop their religious identity? Is this generation seeking less visible, less participatory means of contact with the church to better integrate with their peers? Or, on the contrary, do they choose, strategically, to reinforce the Catholic part of their identity in order to succeed better in the integration process in a Catholic country

Living in Italy in an Anti-Immigrant Scenario: New Challenges for Muslim Second Generations

Analysing whether and how the transition from the first to the second generation transforms adherence to Islam in Italy, a Catholic country which is undergoing a Lively immigration and Muslim-welcoming debate, is extremely interesting. The growing presence of Muslims in Italy stresses relations with ‘diversity’, especially in those areas where the incidence of migrants coming from Maghreb is higher and where there is an Arabic presence visible through ethnic shops, women wearing the chador and men wearing long robes. In these areas, the issues of control and safety have been on the agenda for many years. On the other hand, according to Muslim organizations there is a common interest in presenting a ‘moderate Islam’. There is a specific will and interest of the youngest Muslim generations to demonstrate their propensity to promote integration, using both old (debates, meetings, etc.) and new (websites, blog, etc.) policy tools

Managing the co-creation approach and methodology: Lessons learned from the KIDS4ALLL and NEW ABC H2020 projects

Despite the re-definition of the children’s role and agency in constructing “their own lives, the lives of those around them and of the societies in which they live” (Prout, James, 1990, p. 8), “adult perceptions of children and children’s marginalized position in adult society” (Punch, 2002, p. 321) are still influencing how research with/on children is viewed and approached. Funding bodies as well as organizations invested in the protection of children’s rights have been advocating for a different approach to research with/on children by supporting and encouraging the implementation of co-creational and participatory methods of research that allow the voice of children and vulnerable groups to be heard and heeded. However, poor or tokenistic incorporation of children and young people’s voices in educational policy-making has meant that children and young people with a migrant background have been largely absent at worst or included in tokenistic ways, at best. The overarching aim of the KIDS4ALLL and NEW ABC H2020 projects was to trigger and facilitate an effective and sustainable process of co-participated creation and implementation of new or existing good practices for the inclusion of children and young people with a migrant background in formal, informal and non-formal education. Following a brief description of the main aims of the two projects, this paper explores the co-creation methodology and illustrates the lessons learned in the two projects from the co-creation process with a specific focus on teachers’ and associations’ perceptions of collaborative partnerships

BANKS MEET IMMIGRANTS: A NEW ACTOR FOSTERING SOCIO-ECONOMIC INTEGRATION?

The percentage of immigrants in the total population of many European countries, including Italy, is rising. Despite being a structural component of society until now a substantial section of the banking market has shown considerable strategic uncertainty with regard to this question. The issue hinges on the limitation of the financial exclusion of immigrants, in other words, the inability to access necessary financial services in an appropriate form. The financial exclusion is of paramount importance as if it is not checked and resolved could be significantly damaging both in social and economic terms. In other words, banks can be considered as 'actors' involved in promoting the immigrants' socio-economic integration? Or, are they far away from the challenges of the immigration process? The paper will present an empirical analysis focused on the city of Turin (Italy) where the foreign citizens are 11% of the total population and aimed at knowing whether the Italian Retail Banking System have set out specific strategies for immigrants. The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, an investigation of the state of the art of the products on offer and the methods currently employed by retail banks. Secondly, an attempt to highlight the tools and development opportunities for innovatory operational methods is made. More precisely, in the paper, thanks to the collected data, an analysis of the offer of financial products for immigrants is presented. On the other hand, the paper will offer first data on the immigrants' economic behavior