Quarta di copertina: Un viaggio nelle dinamiche dell'esistenza delle donne di Luxor, all'... more Quarta di copertina: Un viaggio nelle dinamiche dell'esistenza delle donne di Luxor, all'interno del loro contesto sociale, vissuto da un'osservatrice partecipe, un corpo tra corpi, attraverso uno sguardo quanto più possibile scevro di giudizi precostituiti, che non ...
Objects and practices used and performed daily, play a central role in the definition of the self... more Objects and practices used and performed daily, play a central role in the definition of the self, and migration paths, meant both in a personal and in a collective sense, determine complex dynamics which involve them directly. Starting from De Certeau's analysis of everyday life [1980], my research focuses on Moroccan women living in Milan's suburbs, and it aims at studying how they make themselves and the place where they live, after migration, through materiality, moving in peculiar ways among what new local context (with its mass production and wished standardization of habits) and origin country (where what is perceived as "traditional" constantly meets the global dimension of goods and practices) impose. The murmuring of everyday practices and the words of the objects involved talk about women who perform and use them in ways that lead a complex reflection on the definition of a proper Moroccan "style" [Gell, 1998]: if we can say that a person is made of material objects which determine an induction of its own agency, of biographical history and of collective memory, equally we might state that these objects interlace among each other and define different manners of being Moroccan, and of being it abroad.Peer reviewe
Within the framework of a research project focused on the public opinion about refugees and asylu... more Within the framework of a research project focused on the public opinion about refugees and asylum seekers, it was possible to gather relevant data about the way in which food – among other cultural practices – enable migrants to find a place in context of forced displacement and unstable settlement. In particular, through ethnographic research and the micro-analysis of the materiality of cooking, I could explore the preparation of meals for local population by a group of undocumented migrant women living in Liege as means to take active role in the life of the city, in spite of being excluded from it in terms of legal status and rights. Through preparing food at local events, and through interacting with local organisms (associations, services, institutions) that set the conditions for these activities to develop, undocumented migrant women position themselves as active subjects contributing to local dynamics. While doing this, they negotiate their cultural belonging and food traditions through mixing them with new local practices. As an example, I will analyse the organization of some tables d’hôtes in the house that these women are occupying. The prepared meals combine sub-Saharan African culinary traditions with local recipes and values. In fact, specifically in the neighbourhood where this activity takes place, ecological preoccupations drive food habits in terms of supplying practices and cooking methods. The exploration of this (and other) example(s) shows how food – and sharing food in particular – can be the material and discursive site for establishing relevant relationships and claiming rights. To do that, food habits need to be adjusted to the local environment. Undocumented migrants, whose demand for regular stay in Belgium has been rejected and who find themselves lacking civic rights, manage to find a place in the society where they live thanks to the performance of cultural practices involving local people and engaging with contextual dynamics.Peer reviewe
peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professional, student, popularizationCette communication vise ... more peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professional, student, popularizationCette communication vise à étudier la participation des femmes migrantes marocaines à la vie sociale du « pays d’accueil » ; participation qui se réalise grâce aux activités de la vie quotidienne. En particulier, la performance publique des pratiques culinaires, observée dans une ville de la province de Milan, permet aux femmes considérées d’exercer une agency à l’intérieur des espaces institutionnellement concédés à l’expression des migrants. D’un côté, la consommation des « recettes de l’Autre » de la part de la population majoritaire détermine une incorporation de la diversité afin de la contrôler. De l’autre côté, la préparation de ces recettes consent aux migrantes d’exprimer leur subjectivité (individuelle et collective) de façon active et en présentant des aspects qui vont au-delà de la culture alimentaire. Une participation sociale fondée sur le partage de nourriture donne la possibilité aux femmes d’assumer un rôle actif dans la communauté locale, tout en affirmant ses propres spécificités. Des sujets tels que la liberté religieuse sont abordés, et certains droits peuvent être réclamés par des individus qui ont ainsi acquis une position politiquement importante au sein de la société locale
The displacement of human beings is always accompanied by the movement of things and practices wh... more The displacement of human beings is always accompanied by the movement of things and practices which travel with them. This is an obvious statement that indeed leads to interesting studies on the material culture involved by people’s mobility. Within this culture are food habits, objects of numerous scholars’ researches often focusing on culinary changes (or resistances) linked to migration paths. Far for being the only issue at stake when studying migrant’s food practices – moreover frequently assumed as originally static prior to migration –, this matter is likely to overshadow other significant dynamics. Such as those which occur when supposedly different food cultures meet, thus leading to the mobilization of belongings by groups who want to take a specific position toward one another. My paper is aimed at analysing this encounter. The assumption is that it shapes a space which corresponds to a tertium quid, that is a dimension where not only the boundaries of food cultures fade, proving of an original indeterminacy and interchangeability of practices, but also where individuals constantly change their reciprocal position depending on the perspective of the gaze upon them. To show these dynamics, I will present the ethnographic data stemmed from my doctoral research about the culinary practices of a group of Moroccan migrant women living in Milan hinterland. I will support my presentation with visual materials collected during an eighteen month fieldwork which included observations and interviews inside homes as well as in public events such as an Arab cooking class.Peer reviewe
Quarta di copertina: Un viaggio nelle dinamiche dell'esistenza delle donne di Luxor, all'... more Quarta di copertina: Un viaggio nelle dinamiche dell'esistenza delle donne di Luxor, all'interno del loro contesto sociale, vissuto da un'osservatrice partecipe, un corpo tra corpi, attraverso uno sguardo quanto più possibile scevro di giudizi precostituiti, che non ...
Objects and practices used and performed daily, play a central role in the definition of the self... more Objects and practices used and performed daily, play a central role in the definition of the self, and migration paths, meant both in a personal and in a collective sense, determine complex dynamics which involve them directly. Starting from De Certeau's analysis of everyday life [1980], my research focuses on Moroccan women living in Milan's suburbs, and it aims at studying how they make themselves and the place where they live, after migration, through materiality, moving in peculiar ways among what new local context (with its mass production and wished standardization of habits) and origin country (where what is perceived as "traditional" constantly meets the global dimension of goods and practices) impose. The murmuring of everyday practices and the words of the objects involved talk about women who perform and use them in ways that lead a complex reflection on the definition of a proper Moroccan "style" [Gell, 1998]: if we can say that a person is made of material objects which determine an induction of its own agency, of biographical history and of collective memory, equally we might state that these objects interlace among each other and define different manners of being Moroccan, and of being it abroad.Peer reviewe
Within the framework of a research project focused on the public opinion about refugees and asylu... more Within the framework of a research project focused on the public opinion about refugees and asylum seekers, it was possible to gather relevant data about the way in which food – among other cultural practices – enable migrants to find a place in context of forced displacement and unstable settlement. In particular, through ethnographic research and the micro-analysis of the materiality of cooking, I could explore the preparation of meals for local population by a group of undocumented migrant women living in Liege as means to take active role in the life of the city, in spite of being excluded from it in terms of legal status and rights. Through preparing food at local events, and through interacting with local organisms (associations, services, institutions) that set the conditions for these activities to develop, undocumented migrant women position themselves as active subjects contributing to local dynamics. While doing this, they negotiate their cultural belonging and food traditions through mixing them with new local practices. As an example, I will analyse the organization of some tables d’hôtes in the house that these women are occupying. The prepared meals combine sub-Saharan African culinary traditions with local recipes and values. In fact, specifically in the neighbourhood where this activity takes place, ecological preoccupations drive food habits in terms of supplying practices and cooking methods. The exploration of this (and other) example(s) shows how food – and sharing food in particular – can be the material and discursive site for establishing relevant relationships and claiming rights. To do that, food habits need to be adjusted to the local environment. Undocumented migrants, whose demand for regular stay in Belgium has been rejected and who find themselves lacking civic rights, manage to find a place in the society where they live thanks to the performance of cultural practices involving local people and engaging with contextual dynamics.Peer reviewe
peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professional, student, popularizationCette communication vise ... more peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professional, student, popularizationCette communication vise à étudier la participation des femmes migrantes marocaines à la vie sociale du « pays d’accueil » ; participation qui se réalise grâce aux activités de la vie quotidienne. En particulier, la performance publique des pratiques culinaires, observée dans une ville de la province de Milan, permet aux femmes considérées d’exercer une agency à l’intérieur des espaces institutionnellement concédés à l’expression des migrants. D’un côté, la consommation des « recettes de l’Autre » de la part de la population majoritaire détermine une incorporation de la diversité afin de la contrôler. De l’autre côté, la préparation de ces recettes consent aux migrantes d’exprimer leur subjectivité (individuelle et collective) de façon active et en présentant des aspects qui vont au-delà de la culture alimentaire. Une participation sociale fondée sur le partage de nourriture donne la possibilité aux femmes d’assumer un rôle actif dans la communauté locale, tout en affirmant ses propres spécificités. Des sujets tels que la liberté religieuse sont abordés, et certains droits peuvent être réclamés par des individus qui ont ainsi acquis une position politiquement importante au sein de la société locale
The displacement of human beings is always accompanied by the movement of things and practices wh... more The displacement of human beings is always accompanied by the movement of things and practices which travel with them. This is an obvious statement that indeed leads to interesting studies on the material culture involved by people’s mobility. Within this culture are food habits, objects of numerous scholars’ researches often focusing on culinary changes (or resistances) linked to migration paths. Far for being the only issue at stake when studying migrant’s food practices – moreover frequently assumed as originally static prior to migration –, this matter is likely to overshadow other significant dynamics. Such as those which occur when supposedly different food cultures meet, thus leading to the mobilization of belongings by groups who want to take a specific position toward one another. My paper is aimed at analysing this encounter. The assumption is that it shapes a space which corresponds to a tertium quid, that is a dimension where not only the boundaries of food cultures fade, proving of an original indeterminacy and interchangeability of practices, but also where individuals constantly change their reciprocal position depending on the perspective of the gaze upon them. To show these dynamics, I will present the ethnographic data stemmed from my doctoral research about the culinary practices of a group of Moroccan migrant women living in Milan hinterland. I will support my presentation with visual materials collected during an eighteen month fieldwork which included observations and interviews inside homes as well as in public events such as an Arab cooking class.Peer reviewe
This paper introduces the analysis of some fieldwork material collected in Belgium within the fra... more This paper introduces the analysis of some fieldwork material collected in Belgium within the framework of the European project “Countering Islamophobia through the development of best practices in the use of counter-narratives in EU member states”. In particular, some reflections will be brought on the place of Muslims in the broader debate on Islam in Belgium, as well as, more precisely, in dealing with some issues such as radicalization and Islamophobia. The starting point is that a polarization is at play between a process of discrediting political representatives having a Muslim background – claimed or assigned – when intervening in general society debates, and the mobilization and legitimation of Muslims’ participation as key stakeholders on specific topics. Islamic religion operates as prior identity marker and this occurs in two directions. On the one hand, it seems to preclude the intervention of Muslim experts on non-religiously related issues at a larger level; on the other hand it fosters the solicitation of Muslim personalities (activists, analysts, artists etc.) – or it creates spaces for them to intervene – as specialists of religiously-related matters. To challenge this polarization, a tension emerges between the will of “making commonplace of Muslims”, of “normalizing” their presence through making their moral positioning a common character among others, and the need of claiming expertise and rights that are specifically disregarded when dealing with Muslim people. The tension is between indistinctness and visibility, between normality and exceptionality. Such challenge results into actions that promote the inclusion of Muslims as full citizens of the local society.Peer reviewe
peer reviewedaudience: researcher, studentWithin the framework of a research project focused on t... more peer reviewedaudience: researcher, studentWithin the framework of a research project focused on the public opinion about refugees and asylum seekers, and on the migrants’ and local citizens’ initiatives of socio-cultural and political participation, it was possible to gather relevant data about the way in which food permits – among other cultural activities – such participation. In particular, through ethnographic research, I could explore the preparation of meals for local population by a group of undocumented migrant women living in Liege as means to take active role in the life of the city, in spite of being excluded from it in terms of legal status and rights. Through preparing food at local events, and through interacting with local organisms (associations, services, institutions) that set the conditions for these activities to develop, undocumented migrant women position themselves as active subjects contributing to local dynamics. For example, in collaboration with a local cultural association, they organize some tables d’hôtes in the house that they are occupying to prepare meals that combine sub-Saharan African culinary traditions with local recipes and values – in fact, specifically in the neighborhood where this activity takes place, ecological preoccupations drive food habits in terms of supplying practices and cooking methods. Besides this, they also prepare the meals to be served at a training program organized by the local section of the socialist trade union focused on migrants’ – and workers’, more generally, – rights. The exploration of these and other examples shows how food – and sharing food in particular – can be the material and discursive site for establishing relevant relationships and claiming rights. Undocumented migrants, whose demand for regular stay in Belgium has been rejected and who find themselves lacking civic rights, manage to find a – though unstable – place in the hosting society thanks to the performance of cultural practices involving local people and engaging with contextual dynamics.PUMOMI
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