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Circa cinquant’anni orsono il concetto di “panico morale” faceva la sua comparsa nel discorso sociologico e pubblico. Per l’ennesima volta nella storia, a partire dal secondo dopoguerra i soggetti fondamentali della riproduzione sociale –... more
Circa cinquant’anni orsono il concetto di “panico morale” faceva la sua comparsa nel discorso sociologico e pubblico. Per l’ennesima volta nella storia, a partire dal secondo dopoguerra i soggetti fondamentali della riproduzione sociale – i giovani – davano forma a un dibattito e a una serie di politiche tesi a criminalizzarli, a tutelarli dai loro stessi eccessi e a difendere la società. Questo modo di trattare le nuove questioni giovanili è diventato negli anni un repertorio linguistico e d’intervento ripetitivo, che viene agitato ogni qualvolta un nuovo tratto sembra minacciare l’organizzazione sociale o quando un vecchio comportamento viene riscoperto dai produttori dei discorsi (politici, imprenditori morali, polizia, opinioni pubbliche ecc.).
Il libro analizza una di queste “riscoperte”. Ovvero un caso che, proprio come avveniva nella letteratura sociologica dei primi anni Settanta del secolo scorso, ha per oggetto una “sottocultura” giovanile: la trap. O, per meglio dire, quella terra di mezzo in cui confluiscono il neomelodico, il raggaeton e il resto dei generi contigui, declinati e intesi in chiave “criminale”. Attraverso l’analisi culturale, storica e criminologica vengono osservati i processi sociali più ampi entro cui si sviluppano queste pratiche artistiche, gli allarmi e la reazione sociale in Italia.
Quali visioni del mondo sono in gioco quando si parla di populismo? La tesi di questo volume è che i suoi significati sono solo parzialmente universali e che bisognerebbe riconoscere una coesistenza di populismi: uno centrale e uno... more
Quali visioni del mondo sono in gioco quando si parla di populismo? La tesi di questo volume è che i suoi significati sono solo parzialmente universali e che bisognerebbe riconoscere una coesistenza di populismi:
uno centrale e uno locale, quest’ultimo legato alla storia sociale dei luoghi.
A partire dal caso di Messina e del suo sindaco Cateno De Luca, il testo indaga gli elementi generalizzabili e quelli specifici di un’azione di governo fatta, oltre che di misure amministrative, anche di politiche simboliche iscritte nella località e tese a ordinare – e quindi a dividere – la città
secondo coordinate di classe e cultura. Se questa attitudine disgregante è in fondo il tratto generale di ogni populismo, ad apparire specifici sono invece gli elementi intimi che producono la divisione. La capacità di
riattivare sentimenti sopiti rende il populismo un mero contenitore che può essere riempito di contenuti diversi e che andrebbe pertanto compreso a partire da storie, vissuti e scale territoriali.
This is a study on the long-lasting consequences of a disastrous earthquake that hit the city of Messina, Sicily, in 1908. The quake killed about 86,000 people, and destroyed one of the most important portal cities of the Mediterranean.... more
This is a study on the long-lasting consequences of a disastrous earthquake that hit the city of Messina, Sicily, in 1908. The quake killed about 86,000 people, and destroyed one of the most important portal cities of the Mediterranean. The book investigates both the forces that shaped that event and made it possible – firstly, urban speculation processes at the end of the nineteenth century – and the role of that occurrence in creating a complex event that, on the one hand, accelerated trends and tendencies that were already in motion; and, on the other, produced an entirely new social space based on social separation and the rise of a widespread marginal class. Such a class developed within urban borders and spaces that, over the decades, grew according to the same logic and directions that followed the reconstruction. Especially the shacks, still a visible presence in the city, represent the space of reproduction both of a class and the whole of the social relations stemming from the disaster.

It shows how key-concepts in contemporary scientific analysis, such as “shock economy” and “economy of disaster,” can be aptly backdated. Above all, this study broadens the normal analyses of disasters by showing the stratification of institutional techniques and economic forces that, over the decades, intervened and (re-)shaped the site of a disaster and its social structure.
Cosa accade quando l’antagonismo esce dai centri sociali e incontra la “subalternità”, quel vasto sottoproletariato caratterizzato da bassi livelli di istruzione, sospeso tra lavori precari e malpagati, che affolla le città del Sud? Il... more
Cosa accade quando l’antagonismo esce dai centri sociali e incontra la
“subalternità”, quel vasto sottoproletariato caratterizzato da bassi livelli
di istruzione, sospeso tra lavori precari e malpagati, che affolla le città
del Sud? Il volume risponde a questo interrogativo proponendo uno
studio etnografico sull’incontro tra il movimento politico e la
popolazione dei “margini”, uniti dalla lotta per il soddisfacimento dei
bisogni primari e per la casa. Andando oltre i classici temi della
sociologia politica, comunemente centrati sulla conquista dello spazio
pubblico da parte dei movimenti, questo saggio indaga soprattutto le
forme mentali degli attori, le tattiche di penetrazione del gruppo dei
“politici” in quello dei “subalterni”, le forme della pedagogia politica e
quella delle resistenze alla sua azione “civilizzatrice”. Comunismo,
volontà di potenza, mafia e magia, compongono lo sfondo di una lotta
serrata che non condurrà lontani, ma dalla quale, per ragioni diverse,
nessuno degli attori può sottrarsi.
Scritto in un linguaggio che cerca di riprodurre quanto più fedelmente
quello dei protagonisti, "Prendere le case" è una etnografia totale, che
svela gli anfratti della città meridionale e le difficoltà di una pratica
politica antagonista e popolare nella società contemporanea.
Research Interests:
Quali sono oggi le forme individuali e collettive con le quali si esprimono le resistenze, passive o attive, nelle relazioni di potere che attraversano lo spazio pubblico e privato delle nostre esistenze quotidiane? Utilizzando un vasto... more
Quali sono oggi le forme individuali e collettive con le quali si esprimono le resistenze, passive o attive, nelle relazioni di potere che attraversano lo spazio pubblico e privato delle nostre esistenze quotidiane?
Utilizzando un vasto panorama di dati e studi etnografici, urbanistici e sociologici, in questo suo lavoro Saitta introduce il lettore al controverso problema delle “resistenze”, nel quale confluiscono temi come l’estetizzazione della subalternità, le emozioni legate alla rivolta o al silenzio, l’ideologia di chi osserva, il rapporto delle scienze sociali con il potere e il problema della scrittura e della creazione di mondi fatti a immagine e desiderio degli studiosi e della loro platea.
Vengono così indagate le pratiche e le rivendicazioni organizzate o meno, individuali o collettive, occulte o visibili, semi-legali o criminali, di natura economica o postmaterialiste che si affacciano nello spazio delle relazioni economiche e in quello della città, producendo conflitto, evitandolo o negoziando margini silenziosi di autonomia.
Research Interests:
"Quota zero" is a study on the long-lasting consequences of a disaster, and the social order stemming from an apocalyptic event as the 1908 Messina earthquake. The city of the Strait is here seen as one of the first implementation spaces... more
"Quota zero" is a study on the long-lasting consequences of a disaster, and the social order stemming from an apocalyptic event as the 1908 Messina earthquake. The city of the Strait is here seen as one of the first implementation spaces of that “shock economy” which is considered a typical trait of the contemporary age and the neo-liberalism. According to the author, instead, many of the forces active in the contemporary capitalism of disasters were already present in the Sicilian center at the beginning of the past century – up to the point that Messina, since then, has anticipated all the contradictions of contemporary capitalism. Saitta explores the history of the South of Italy, Messina, and its marginal inhabitants in the light of analytical categories borrowed from the postcolonial and subaltern studies, as well as from the world-system theory. Privileged witnesses of this endless story are different generations of outcasts, construction workers, inhabitants of shanty towns, and other similar characters committed to survive and “resist” by exploiting the interstices of a pervasive and merciless system that has reproduced itself for decades. What stems from this exploration is: an original analysis of an event that played a key role in the history of Itay, some useful observations on the management of disasters in the Bel Paese, and, finally, a methodological proposal aimed at mixing history, urban sociology, ethnography, and life histories.


"Quota zero" è uno studio sulla lunga durata di un disastro e sull’ordine sociale derivato da un evento apocalittico come il terremoto di Messina del 1908. La città dello Stretto viene qui vista come uno dei primi spazi di applicazione di quella shock economy che, secondo orientamenti prevalenti, sarebbe tipica della contemporaneità e del neoliberismo. Secondo l’autore, però, molte delle forze attive nel contemporaneo capitalismo dei disastri sarebbero state all’opera nella città siciliana già all’inizio del secolo scorso. Al punto che Messina ha finito con l’anticipare di decenni tutte le contraddizioni del capitalismo contemporaneo. Pietro Saitta ripercorre la storia di Messina, dei suoi abitanti marginali e del Mezzogiorno, alla luce di categorie analitiche mutuate dagli studi postcoloniali e subalterni, oltre che dalle teorie sul sistema- mondo. Testimoni privilegiati e diretti sono differenti generazioni di reietti dei cantieri edili, di abitanti delle baracche e simili figure ugualmente impegnate a sopravvivere e «resistere», sfruttando gli interstizi lasciati liberi da un sistema pervasivo e spietato che si rinnova da decenni. Quel che discende da questo sforzo è una visione originale intorno a un evento centrale della storia nazionale, delle utili osservazioni comparative sulla gestione dei disastri nel nostro paese e, infine, l’avanzamento di una rilevante proposta metodologica nei termini di un approccio alla ricerca sociale teso a coniugare storiografia, sociologia urbana, etnografia e storie di vita.
Il presente volume, analizzando i modi attraverso cui 6 regioni italiane (Piemonte, Lombardia, Marche, Toscana, Campania e Calabria) affronta l’applicazione delle linee-guida sull’ictus, offre uno spaccato sul cambiamento organizzativo... more
Il presente volume, analizzando i modi attraverso cui 6 regioni italiane (Piemonte, Lombardia, Marche, Toscana, Campania e Calabria) affronta l’applicazione delle linee-guida sull’ictus, offre uno spaccato sul cambiamento organizzativo dei sistemi sanitari.

L’icuts è una patologia diffusa, altamente mortale e invalidante, le cui conseguenze possono essere mitigate o annullate dalle moderne tecniche di trattamento in reparti attrezzati e dal costo contenuto (le Stroke Unit), al centro di un’articolata “filiera” chiamata Rete Stroke. Malgrado le evidenze scientifiche sulla loro efficacia e l’accordo Stato-Regioni definito nel 2005, il livello di attuazione delle Stroke Unit e delle Reti Stroke è nelle regioni italiane estremamente disomogeneo.

Attraverso interviste in profondità e focus group con gli attori regionali del processo di implementazione (medici, dirigenti e politici), questo studio indaga le principali motivazioni che spiegano le differenze tra le aree osservate. In particolare vengono analizzate: le agende dei decisori pubblici, il ruolo dei budget regionali, la complessità strutturale, le differenze organizzative, le forme di competizione tra strutture e livelli sanitari, tra ambiti disciplinari e professionisti della salute, i rapporti di potere e le pratiche informali.


Indice


Prefazione, (di Bianca Maria Polizzi) pag. 7

1.I nuovi modelli di assistenza sanitaria: il caso della rete stroke
(di Domenica Farinella, Pietro Saitta e Guido Signorino)
Regionalizzazione della sanità e assistenza integrata
allo stroke, una ricerca empirica.
Lo sfondo della ricerca.
Il disegno della ricerca e le sue fasi.
L’analisi dei dati e le dimensioni semantiche.


2. Il caso calabrese, tra debolezza sistemica e arretratezza
(di Pietro Saitta)
Un quadro di sintesi.
Una debolezza strutturale.
L’attuazione della rete stroke e delle stroke unit.
Come superare il ritardo.


3. Piemonte: prevalenza del pubblico, partecipazione ed
autonomia dei servizi
(di Pietro Saitta)
Un quadro di sintesi.
Cultura sanitaria e implementazione della rete stroke.
Conclusioni e prospettive.


4. Marche, tra spontaneismo dei servizi ed autonomia
(di Pietro Saitta)
Un quadro di sintesi.
Un sistema in trasformazione.


5. Il modello toscano tra equità e conflittualità
(di Domenica Farinella)
Un quadro di sintesi.
Centralità del pubblico ed organizzazione sanitaria.
L’implementazione della rete stroke.
Qualche indicazione


6. Lombardia: organizzazione a rete, concorrenza e managerialismo
(di Domenica Farinella)
Un quadro di sintesi .
Un sistema sanitario tra cooperazione e concorrenza.
Cooperazione tra aziende: la progettazione dal basso.
Una nuova cultura organizzativa.
Cooperare con la Regione: reti per l’assistenza e tavoli di esperti.
I punti di forza: mercato, regole certe e stabilità nel tempo
Il ruolo tecnico della regione nell’organizzazione a rete
La rete stroke all’interno del sistema sanitario lombardo
Conclusioni

7. Campania: un sistema sanitario tra formalismo ed emergenza
(di Domenica Farinella)
Un quadro di sintesi
Burocrazia, politicizzazione e programmazione sanitaria
La logica dell’emergenza e il dualismo territoriale
Il vincolo del budget e del piano di rientro
L’implementazione della rete stroke
Il caso virtuoso della rete stroke beneventana, pregi e difetti
Conclusioni


8. Conclusioni
(di Domenica Farinella)
Un confronto tra Regioni
Criticità e indicazioni di policy

Bibliografia
"Nel corso degli anni Cinquanta la Sicilia aderì con estrema convinzione al mito e alla “narrazione industriale” portati avanti da personaggi come Matteis e i teorici dello sviluppo. In brevissimo tempo l’isola prese a ospitare... more
"Nel corso degli anni Cinquanta la Sicilia aderì con estrema convinzione al mito e alla “narrazione industriale” portati avanti da personaggi come Matteis e i teorici dello sviluppo. In brevissimo tempo l’isola prese a ospitare un’impressionante concentrazione di poli petrolchimici che avrebbero dovuto impiegare migliaia di ex contadini e portare finalmente la modernità nell’area. A distanza di sessant’anni gli effetti del processo di modernizzazione appaiono evidenti: disoccupazione, malattie da industrializzazione, paura, devastazione ambientale e sottrazione dei territori costituiscono la reale faccia del sogno di progresso.

Questo studio qualitativo, realizzato nell’ambito di un progetto di ricerca dell’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità, affronta il tema delle paure e delle aspirazioni dei residenti nelle aree a rischio della regione Sicilia alla luce dei fallimenti del corrente modello di sviluppo. "
Il processo di “securitizzazione` trasforma in questioni di sicurezza problemi che di sicurezza non sono, come ad esempio l`immigrazione. Oggi non solo in Italia, ma in tutta Europa, i governi scambiano e usano i termini sicurezza e... more
Il processo di “securitizzazione` trasforma in questioni di sicurezza problemi che di sicurezza non sono, come ad esempio l`immigrazione. Oggi non solo in Italia, ma in tutta Europa, i governi scambiano e usano i termini sicurezza e straniero come sinonimi di ordine pubblico. Il modello dell`emergenza presuppone misure eccezionali e restrittive della libertà, accettate dalla popolazione solo per paura -- una sensazione e percezione costruita ad arte mediante processi di diffusione mediatica di messaggi di inquietudine.

Le decisioni assunte da livelli di governo nazionali e sovranazionali vengono assunte all'interno di un frame "problematico" e hanno, conseguentemente, delle ricadute altrettanto “problematiche` su aree delimitate di territorio. Inoltre alcuni problemi che nascono a livello locale assumono successivamente una dimensione che va al di là del territorio circoscritto da cui originano, per assumere rilevanza sociale e politica extra-locale -- cioè nazionale e, in alcuni casi, globale. Per analizzare questa dinamica, viene proposto un confronto tra le opposizioni alle basi militari in Veneto ed in Sicilia.

Sul fronte delle politiche urbane, ordine, decoro e sicurezza sono i principi di un modello che intende “nascondere` e non “risolvere` le questioni sociali. La prostituzione è un`efficace metafora della vicenda complessiva dell`immigrazione in Italia ed è il fenomeno che è stato più di altri oggetto delle campagne per la sicurezza di questi anni. Ma prima di ogni altra cosa, il sesso commerciale dovrebbe essere letto come una delle tante modalità attraverso cui si espleta il lavoro dei migranti, evitando di negare la soggettività e la capacità di autodeterminazione del progetto migratorio attraverso categorie vittimali.

La vittimizzazione e criminalizzazione dell'immigrazione producono effetti anche sul fronte esterno, determinando assetti geopolitici, guerre e strategie militari. A cosa servono perciò le basi militari, ed il loro “indotto` di guerre e profughi? Sono gendarmi della sicurezza che presuppongono un nemico temibile, costruito con tenacia nel corso degli anni: dagli “Stati canaglia` all`“Asse del male`, fino al fondamentalismo islamico. La Sicilia – primo punto di arrivo degli africani che fuggono guerre e repressione – è oggi il crocevia dei problemi del mondo. Il discorso pubblico e mediatico fa ciclicamente appello alla nozione di “invasione` riferendosi a Lampedusa, evitando di spiegare cause e motivazioni dei flussi, ma creando e riproducendo nuove paure, nuovo bisogno di “sicurezza`, nuova militarizzazione. Così mentre dal Sudan alla Sicilia arrivano i profughi, da Sigonella partono gli aerei da combattimento verso l'Africa e il Medio Oriente...

INDICE DEL VOLUME

"Dal globale al locale: securitizzare`
il mondo"
(Francesca Longo)
Il ruolo delle installazioni militari
“Securitizzare` il mondo
L`Unione Europea al bivio

"Dal locale al globale: le opposizioni alle basi
militari in Italia
(Gianni Piazza)
I conflitti locali: Nimby, Lulu o Nope?
I No dal Molin a Vicenza
Le campagne contro la base di Sigonella
Vicenza e Sigonella: spiegare le differenze
I No MUOS a Niscemi: un`inversione di tendenza?

"Ordine, sicurezza e decoro: come occultare la prostituzione
volontaria e la soggettività"
(Pietro Saitta)
La prostituzione come lavoro
Contrasto
Conclusioni

"Come la costruzione del nemico produce guerre
e migrazioni"
(Antonello Mangano)
Fuori dal mondo, dentro il globale
I migranti, prodotto delle guerre
Il nemico islamico

Riferimenti bibliografici
"Una storia locale? Non esattamente. Gela, la città siciliana che fa da sfondo a questa ricerca, incarna questioni più ampie, connesse alla relazione tra grande capitale e territori periferici. Parlare di Gela significa discutere degli... more
"Una storia locale? Non esattamente. Gela, la città siciliana che fa da sfondo a questa ricerca, incarna questioni più ampie, connesse alla relazione tra grande capitale e territori periferici. Parlare di Gela significa discutere degli esiti dell`industrializzazione diretta centralmente, del sottosviluppo, del ricatto occupazionale, dell`incertezza, del rischio sanitario e della resistenza che esso genera.

Spazi e società a rischio presenta una severa analisi della relazione tra capitale e consenso, tra industria e paura, tra impresa e politica, tra salari industriali e consumi. Uno studio di comunità che non lascia molto spazio alla speranza, ma che non rinuncia a individuare percorsi di cambiamento e liberazione.

Il libro affronta il nodo dello sviluppo in una città del sud, Gela, divenuta nel corso dei decenni un emblema della storia e delle contraddizioni del meridione. Il nodo che il sociologo messinese Pietro Saitta osserva in una prospettiva storica e sociologica è per buona parte lo stesso osservato da Hytten e Marchioni in un classico testo del 1970, dedicato all`“Industrializzazione senza sviluppo`: quello relativo al paradossale ruolo dell`Eni nel determinare processi di (sotto)sviluppo economici e, soprattutto, sociali nel territorio in esame. Quegli stessi processi, peraltro, che secondo numerose analisi sarebbero alla base della deriva mafiosa che ha investito questa città, determinandone la sinistra fama che la ha accompagnata nel tempo (i baby-killer, la stidda, etc.).

Nel testo viene dunque rivisitata e aggiornata la letteratura sociologica sulla città (vastissima, malgrado le ridotte dimensioni del centro: ottantamila persone circa). Lo si fa, soprattutto, a partire dalla questione ambientale, divenuta nel frattempo nodale.

Verosimilmente in ragione della presenza dello stabilimento Eni e delle sue emissioni gassose e marine, protrattesi per decenni in modo a volte selvaggio, Gela è divenuta negli anni la capitale di particolari tipi malformazioni (come per esempio le ipospadie), oltre ad essere massivamente caratterizzata da straordinari tassi epidemoliogici relativi a particolari neoplasie. Grazie alla pressione dei numerosi comitati ambientalisti e a quella che l`autore definisce “epidemiologia popolare`, magistratura e enti internazionali come l`Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità hanno potuto accertare la gravità in cui versa l`ambiente cittadino, infliggendo condanne e imponendo limiti alle attività industriali.
La consapevolezza dei danni derivante da questa violazione protratta dell`ambiente ha suscitato diverse reazioni nella cittadinanza ed ha suscitato un dibattito, contraddittorio ma costante nel tempo, intorno al futuro dell`area. Un futuro “sostenibile`, che si scontra però con ostacoli strutturali e civili (la presenza mafiosa, la dipendenza dei cittadini e delle piccole imprese dall`Eni, la limitatezza delle opzioni di sviluppo, i ritardi nelle bonifiche, etc.). Impiegando la lotta per il futuro come un pretesto per la sua discesa sul campo, l'autore esercita una genealogia delle forme del potere, intrecciando la storia locale e quella più generale del Paese, alla base della scelte economiche compiute negli anni cinquanta. L`autore rivisita le teorie sullo sviluppo diffuse negli anni in cui la trasformazione da società agricola ad industriale della città prendeva luogo, analizza i discorsi di Mattei, intervista decine e decine di persone (politici, imprenditori e semplici cittadini), testimoni diretti di questo passaggio o semplici spettatori delle sue conseguenze. Vengono rivisitate vecchie questioni (come l`assalto al municipio degli anni ottanta da parte dei proprietari di case abusive o le manifestazioni per il pet-coke, all`insegna del “meglio malati che disoccupati` ) e nuovi paradossi (per esempio la vicenda dell`“acqua potabile ma non bevibile` oppure i cambiamenti reali e supposti del “rinascimento gelese` ad opera di alcune amministrazioni locali).

In conclusione, questo è un libro di sociologia urbana, pensato non solo per appassionati del genere, in ragione del modo in cui l`autore connette vicende e teorie particolari e generali (Gela come parte di un processo storico su scala globale, si potrebbe dire). Ma è anche un libro “politico`, che riflette sulle contraddizioni del presente e fornisce il punto di vista delle élite locali così come dei cittadini comuni riguardo il futuro economico del territorio.

Infine, in apertura e in chiusura alla ricerca, sono ospitati due lunghi saggi ad opera di Pierpaolo Mudu e Luigi Pellizzoni, ricchi di spunti sulle forme “biopolitiche` di controllo del territorio e sui significati ultimi della ricostruzione storica e teorica offerta dal libro."
"Economie del sospetto" è una etnografia sull’universo dell’immigrazione maghrebina e sulle sue relazioni con la società italiana. Adoperando una prospettiva “partecipante” e “interna” ai gruppi osservati, improntata peraltro ai... more
"Economie del sospetto" è una etnografia sull’universo dell’immigrazione maghrebina e sulle sue relazioni con la società
italiana. Adoperando una prospettiva “partecipante” e “interna” ai
gruppi osservati, improntata peraltro ai principi epistemologici del
“costruttivismo” e alla “riflessività”, il testo compara i modelli d’insediamento di tunisini e marocchini all’interno di aree meridionali e centrali del Paese, rispettivamente ad economia ittica e rurale (Mazara del Vallo) e di piccola impresa (Urbino).
Composto da 5 capitoli, lo studio avanza una rassegna critica di
alcuni correnti approcci interpretativi del fenomeno migratorio – in
particolare quelli neo-funzionalisti e neo-strutturalisti – e introduce l’ipotesi che le migrazioni possano essere lette, almeno in parte, come “scontri di razionalità”. L’autore sostiene in altri termini che le politiche di regolazione dei fenomeni migratori non possono conseguire gli obiettivi prefissati perché trattano quasi sempre i flussi come se fossero determinati da una logica di tipo economico e da un rigido calcolo dei costi e dei benefici.
Dal punto di vista concettuale le principali categorie analizzate
dalla ricerca sono:

- la “concentrazione”, intesa come segregazione della popolazione immigrata all’interno di spazi urbani ristretti e ben definiti, per effetto soprattutto della “miopia” dei legislatori locali e di una volontà più o meno latente di occultare il fenomeno migratorio e trarne unicamente i vantaggi derivanti dall’impiego della forza lavoro straniera. Ma “concentrazione” anche come effetto di una strategia dei migranti per creare reti di protezione sociale alternative a quelle istituzionali o come conseguenza dell’affidamento degli enti locali al libero mercato immobiliare per la risoluzione dei problemi alloggiativi;

- l’ “economia relazionale del sospetto”. Tanto all’interno delle comunità straniere quanto nelle relazioni intercorrenti tra queste ed i nativi, l’assenza o la parzialità nella quantità di fiducia in campo orienta i comportamenti e determina interazioni che alimentano il circolo vizioso della separatezza e dell’incomprensione, foraggiato peraltro anche dalla suddetta concentrazione residenziale;

- la “mancata funzione del lavoro come veicolo d’integrazione”. Per vedere promosso il proprio status sociale non è sufficiente che gli stranieri lavorino. A causa della separatezza fisica e morale, oltre che di elementi come ad esempio il differenziale anagrafico tra popolazioni native e straniere, il pregiudizio correlato alla mancata conoscenza trova nuove vie per riprodursi e marcare l’inferiorità dell’“altro”;

- l’islam e le funzioni svolte da esso nel determinare un welfare state alternativo che supplisce alle carenze delle politiche di cittadinanza ed offre un apparato ideologico utile a resistere in condizioni di deprivazione materiale talvolta molto accentuate, arginando almeno in parte le tendenze acquisitive, funzionando da “apparato di conversazione” tra i differenti gruppi nazionali di fede islamica e riducendo le occasioni di conflitto tra le
minoranze.
L’opera offre, a studenti e studiosi, una serie di riflessioni che intendono ridare forza epistemologica a un approccio critico alla criminologia, oggi più che mai utile a leggere le linee di frattura del sociale. Gli autori mettono in... more
L’opera offre, a studenti e studiosi, una serie di riflessioni che intendono ridare forza epistemologica a un approccio critico alla criminologia, oggi più che mai utile a leggere le linee di frattura del sociale. Gli autori mettono in evidenza i legami esistenti tra il potere politico – nella fattispecie gli ambiti di competenza della sovranità nella produzione della pena – e i fattori economici in grado di produrre gerarchie differenziali; tra la produzione mediatica di informazioni che
saturano e dettano l’agenda dell’opinione pubblica e i dispositivi, tecnologici e giuridici, che inscrivono i soggetti all’interno dei rapporti di potere. Lo statuto della criminologia viene analizzato attraverso un prisma che incrocia, tra le variabili prese in esame, la nazionalità, il genere, le sessualità, la razza e la classe.
Si propone un uso pubblico e comune della criminologia che ridia voce in primo luogo ai veri protagonisti della questione penale: i soggetti prodotti e riprodotti dalle normative e dalla penalità, ma, soprattutto, che introduca temi e approcci finora poco sistematizzati in Italia, quali le criminologie green, border, queer, oltre a quelle postcoloniali, culturali e sui crimini di Stato. Il volume aggiorna dunque il dibattito critico sul discorso criminologico, offrendo un’antologia appassionata, utile strumento di aggiornamento per lo studioso e di formazione critica per gli studenti di scienze sociali e giuridiche. Un riferimento
imprescindibile per chi voglia accostarsi allo studio sociologico del crimine
Research Interests:
Devianze e crimine colma un vuoto esistente nel mercato editoriale italiano per quanto riguarda la ricerca sociologica in materia di crimine e devianza. Questa antologia ragionata presenta le parole di autori classici e contemporanei,... more
Devianze e crimine colma un vuoto esistente nel mercato editoriale italiano per quanto riguarda la ricerca sociologica in materia di crimine e devianza. Questa antologia ragionata presenta le parole di autori classici e contemporanei, testi per buona parte ormai introvabili o mai tradotti, rimasti al margine del dibattito disciplinare nazionale oppure destinati a essere dimenticati. Una raccolta antologica, utile per l’attività didattica oltre che di ricerca, che contribuisce di fatto all’aggiornamento in campo socio-criminologico e al dibattito culturale, sociale e civile del nostro Paese.
SOMMARIO Pietro Saitta Note introduttive sulla complessità degli eventi indesiderati pp. 199-216, DOI: 10.3240/80815 Kyle Cleveland A good plan undone. The politics of crisis management in the Fukushima 3.11... more
SOMMARIO

Pietro Saitta
Note introduttive sulla complessità degli eventi indesiderati
        pp. 199-216, DOI: 10.3240/80815
   
Kyle Cleveland
A good plan undone. The politics of crisis management in the Fukushima 3.11 disasters
        pp. 217-234, DOI: 10.3240/80816
       
Mara Benadusi
Evocare il disastro. Regimi di verità e falsificazione a ridosso del maremoto (Sri Lanka 2005-2013)
        pp. 235-238, DOI: 10.3240/80817
       
Antonello Ciccozzi
«Com'era-dov'era». Tutela del patrimonio culturale e sicurezza sismica degli edifici all'Aquila
        pp. 259-276, DOI: 10.3240/80818
       
Irene Falconieri
L'emergenza permanente. Retoriche e pratiche di resistenza in un comune alluvionato della Sicilia
        pp. 277-300, DOI: 10.3240/80819
       
Olga Shevchenko
Awful crisis superstar. Disasters and routinization
        pp. 301-320, DOI: 10.3240/80820
       
SAGGI

Vanina Ferreccio
La ricerca in carcere in Argentina e in Italia. Strategie del penitenziario e pratiche di resistenza
        pp. 321-342, DOI: 10.3240/80821
     
  Recensioni
Research Interests:
Cos’è il disastro e cosa significa tornare alla normalità? Lo Stato è un alleato dei cittadini quando si tratta di ricostruire, oppure si aggiunge alla tragedia, rallentando la ricostruzione o rendendola terra di conquista per... more
Cos’è il disastro e cosa significa tornare alla normalità? Lo Stato è un alleato dei cittadini quando si tratta di ricostruire, oppure si aggiunge alla tragedia, rallentando la ricostruzione o rendendola terra di conquista per speculatori? È possibile un’autoorganizzazione che si contrapponga agli interessi esterni generati dalla ricostruzione? Questa vasta collezione di saggi a opera di antropologi e sociologi indaga le principali catastrofi di origine tecnologica e naturale del nostro tempo (dai terremoti dell’Irpinia e L’Aquila a Fukushima, dallo tsunami del sud-est asiatico al naufragio della Concordia) e riflette per lo più su come le popolazioni colpite abbiano cercato di tornare alla normalità, malgrado una burocrazia avversa, le cordate di speculatori, una gestione dei disastri spesso inadeguata e il trauma derivante da eventi tanto apocalittici quanto repentini.
Research Interests:
The natural environment has become a field where various types of epistemological struggles are conducted. The traditional role of law and politics, which consists in reducing complexity, making choices in accordance with general... more
The natural environment has become a field where various types of epistemological struggles are conducted. The traditional role of law and politics, which consists in reducing complexity, making choices in accordance with general interest, and producing “truths”, is placed in a condition of crisis. In addition, due to the virulence of the struggles taking place in several parts of the world, the environment should be considered as a space where new forms of active citizenship, based on rejection of the delegation model and unilateral decision-making processes, are experimented with. In light of these observations, the environment plays a further methodological and epistemological function—it enables a deconstruction of dominant narratives in the fields of order and disorder, as well as a subversion of the terms of “discourse of the State” (the whole of the arguments composing the doctrine on and of the State). In response to these conceptual challenges, the present special issue of CNS, originating within the framework of the International Sociological Association
(Research Committee on the Sociology of Law’s World Meeting of Toulouse in 2013), presents ethnographic studies that inquire into the nature of environmental struggles in different parts of the world and shows how they challenge the law, politics, and dominant conceptions of citizenship.

(http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcns20/26/1#.VOxRqtJLUl8)

CONTENTS:

- Environment and the Citizens: Popular Struggles, Popular Epidemiology, and Other Forms of Resistance “From Below” in Areas at Risk Worldwide—An Introduction
(Pietro Saitta & Ilaria Lazzerini)

- Fires of Pianura: The Antidump Struggle in the Western Outskirt of Naples
(Marco De Biase)

- Analyzing Resistance from below: A Proposal of Analysis Based on Three Struggles against Dams in Spain and Mexico
(Alice Poma & Tommaso Gravante)

- Elephants Never Forget: Capturing Nature at the Border of Ruhuna National Park (Yala), Sri Lanka
(Mara Benadusi)
Research Interests:
The informal economy includes all those forms of economic and social relationships which escape state regulation. The book explores how people make choices and practice informality according to the available opportunities. Using empirical... more
The informal economy includes all those forms of economic and social relationships which escape state regulation. The book explores how people make choices and practice informality according to the available opportunities. Using empirical work, authors from across Europe look at different illegal or informal activities. They include legal and illegal markets, such as the selling of counterfeited goods and drugs, fruit picking, infrastructure construction, illegal wildlife and the illegal tropical timber trade, work in the hotel and catering sector, prostitution, stripping and street vending.

The book aims to create a nuanced and empirically based approach, in which the authors undertake critical analyses on the several ways informality operates within different societies and countries. It includes both economic analyses and detailed consideration of the social circumstances in different cities and countries. It shows how formal and informal work, legal and illegal trading, more often than not, overlap and are indistinguishable. It explores what the benefits (and disadvantages) are for workers in the informal economy – do they prosper, or is this survival work? This emphasis on topical empirical foundations matters in rapidly changing economic times, with new challenges for workers. In fact, it is in moments like these that the old certainties of those who are likely to choose what path to follow, become less clear. It is also then that the dividing lines between formal, informal and criminal start to become less visible in organisations and companies. Does a time of economic turmoil make it easier to slip from one to the other? Does the economic crisis ‘force’ people to make other choices than before? And what is the impact on individuals, organisations and regulators?

Topics covered in this book are informal economy, choice of work, economic crisis, income portfolio, empirical research, European outlook, phenomena: street vending, prostitution, stripping, fruit picking, hotel, restaurant and catering sector, social fraud, illegal wildlife, illegal tropical timber trade.

http://www.elevenpub.com/criminology/catalogus/getting-by-or-getting-rich-1

CONTENTS

Pietro Saitta
Just a Matter of Order? An Introduction to the Topic of Informal Economy

Jozef Pacolet
The Informal Economy and the Present Economic Crisis in Europe: Is There an Influence?

Salvatore Palidda
Re-Hybridizing the Legal and the Criminal in all Activities at the Local, National and Global Levels: A ‘Political Total Fact’ in the 21st Century Neo-Liberal Frame

Domenico Marino
A Theoretical Model for the Underground Economy

Effi Lambropoulou
Illegal Markets in a Collapsing Economy

Domenica Farinella
Getting by in a Post-Fordian Age: Survival Strategies and Temporary Workers in the Sicilian Public Sector

Guido Signorino
Organized Crime, the Illegal Economy and ‘Legal’ Agents: Usury in Messina

Antonio Mazzeo
The Role of Organized Crime in Infrastructure Development: The Case of the Messina Bridge

Edward van Asch
The Illegal Wildlife Trade and Transnational Organized Crime

Lieselot Bisschop
Governance throughout the Flows: Case Study Research on the Illegal Tropical Timber Trade

Dominique Boels
The Belgian Informal Economy: A Case Study of Seasonal Work in Fruit-Growing in South Limburg

Noël Klima
Informal Economy in Belgium’s Hotel and Catering Sector: Survival Strategy and Crime Risk

Matthew Bacon
Dancing around Drugs: Policing the Illegal Drug Markets of the Night-Time Economy in England and Wales

Tindaro Bellinvia
Immigrant Vendors in Italy: Discursive Practices and Power Relationships

Nina Peršak
Prostitution in Times of Economic Crisis: Effects, Human Agency and Societal Responses

Teela Sanders
The Advantages and Attractions of Informality: Stripping Work amongst Migrants and Students in the UK

Diego Coletto
The Informal Economy and its Dilemmas in Latin America: The Case of Street Vendors in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Maarten Hendriks, Paul Ponsaers and Joseph Mulamba Tshondo
‘Catch me if you Can’: Ambiguities and Complexities of Street Children (bashege) of Kinshasa

Antoinette Verhage and Joanna Shapland
Getting by or Getting Rich, or Simply Looking for a Better Life? The Informal Economy in Times of Economic Crisis




"
This special issue of ERQ on «Informal economies: oppressions, negotiations, resistances» – explores nature and meanings of «informal economy» in the societal organization. In particular, it provides critical perspectives aimed at... more
This special issue of ERQ on «Informal economies: oppressions, negotiations, resistances» – explores nature and meanings of «informal economy» in the societal organization. In particular, it provides critical perspectives aimed at rejecting merely institutional and legalistic definitions of this phenomenon. The articles suggest that the study of informality should include the State, its elites and regulations among the actors and the elements to be put under scrutiny. Informal economy, thus, is seen as the outcome of a complex interplay among official and unofficial worlds. Far from being just a legal problem, and depending on the circumstances, informality is seen as a «space of contradictions» within which oppression, discretion, resistance, liberation, and the reproduction of social relations constantly take place.
Introduction: https://www.academia.edu/3419843/Informali_Stato_élite_e_marginali_alle_prese_con_l_irregolarità_un_introduzione_critica_Etnografia_e_ricerca_qualitativa_6_1_2013_pp_5_12


Questo numero monografico di Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa su "economie informali: oppressioni, negoziazioni, resistenze" esplora natura e significati dell'economia informale dentro l'organizzazione sociale. In particolare vengono presentate numerose prospettive critiche di ricerca, volte a rigettare le definizioni istituzionali e giuridiche del fenomeno. Gli articoli presentati suggeriscono che lo studio dell'informalità dovrebbe includere lo Stato, le sue élite e modi di regolazione tra gli attori e gli elementi da sottoporre a scrutinio. L'economia informale, perciò, viene vista come il risultato di una complessa interazione tra mondi ufficiali e non-ufficiali. Lontana dall'essere unicamente un problema giuridico, e in relazione alle circostanze che l'accompagnano, l'informalità viene vista come uno "spazio di contraddizioni", dentro cui si rinvengono costantemente forme di oppressione, arbitrio, resistenza, liberazione e riproduzione delle relazioni sociali. 
Introduzione: https://www.academia.edu/3419843/Informali_Stato_élite_e_marginali_alle_prese_con_l_irregolarità_un_introduzione_critica_Etnografia_e_ricerca_qualitativa_6_1_2013_pp_5_12


CONTENTS/CONTENUTI:

Pietro Saitta
Informali. Stato, élite e marginali alle prese con l’irregolarità. Un’introduzione critica

Domenica Farinella
Tra formale ed informale. Lavoro precario e strategie di sussistenza nel Mezzogiorno

Dominique Boels
A process of formalisation. Seasonal labour in fruit growing in Belgium

Matthew Bacon
The informal regulation of an illegal trade. The hidden politics of drug detective work

Maarten Hendriks, Paul Ponsaers, Sylvain Shomba Kinyamba
Street children in Kinshasa. Striking a balance between perpetrator and victim through agency

Diego Coletto
Economia informale, fiducia e reti sociali. Vendere biancheria intima a Itapetininga, Brasile

Tindaro Bellinvia
La «guerra» ai venditori ambulanti senegalesi a Pisa

See on: http://www.rivisteweb.it/issn/1973-3194/issue/6093


""
Considering that we already know very much about the plight of the first generation of immigrants in Italy, the co-editors of these two special issues of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies believe that the scientific community and the... more
Considering that we already know very much about the plight of the first generation of immigrants in Italy, the co-editors of these two special issues of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies believe that the scientific community and the stakeholders need to train attention to those who were either born in Italy or arrived there early in life. Members of the second generation make the exclusionary paradoxes all the more apparent and challenge the self-representations of Italy and its elites. In spite of the fact that these citizens are almost invisible in the public discourse, and are subsumed under the label of migrant, their presence and achievements make artificial dualisms such as Italian-foreigner, constructed by certain parties and related to a new 'national foundation’, blurred and confused in nature.

In fact, how can "they" be that different and other from "us" if they were born here and were exposed to the same language and myths (besides other languages and myths)? But their presence and will to erupt on the scene (as they enter the world of professions and the society at large), and being acknowledged by the state and its administration as citizens and subjects with rights, is also what makes that dualism real in its consequences. Will the second generations be eager to accept the marginal role and the segmented positions that the labor market and the law are, de facto, reserving for them?

Is Italy laying the foundation for future strains and social struggles as those that cyclically hit France? What is, in sum, the present and the future of these new Italians? The present issue on education, family and gender , as well as the previous one devoted to citizenship, political participation and belonging of "second generations", offer a small contribution to the understanding of the future of Italy and constitute an invitation to avoid using people as symbols.


CONTENTS

Introduction
(Jeffrey E. Cole)

Explaining the gap in educational achievement between second-generation immigrants and natives: the Italian case
(Anna Di Bartolomeo)

Segmented assimilation in Italy? The case of Latinos
(Guia Gilardoni)

Migrant friendships, migrant loves – taking the sociability of second generations seriously
(Martina Cvajner)

Children's social relationships in the Northern Italian school context: evidence for the immigrant paradox
(Radosveta Dimitrova)

‘As a rice plant in a wheat field’: identity negotiation among children of Chinese immigrants
(Valentina Pedone)

Bodies, boundaries and desires: multiple subject-positions and micro-politics of modernity among young Muslim women in Milan
(Laura Menin)

Talking about identity: Milanese-Eritreans describe themselves
(Anna Arnone)

Final remarks: Italy, dreams of a monochrome society?
(Jeffrey E. Cole & Pietro Saitta)
Considering that we already know very much about the plight of the first generation of immigrants in Italy, the co-editors of these two special issues of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies believe that the scientific community and the... more
Considering that we already know very much about the plight of the first generation of immigrants in Italy, the co-editors of these two special issues of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies believe that the scientific community and the stakeholders need to train attention to those who were either born in Italy or arrived there early in life. Members of the second generation make the exclusionary paradoxes all the more apparent and challenge the self-representations of Italy and its elites. In spite of the fact that these citizens are almost invisible in the public discourse, and are subsumed under the label of migrant, their presence and achievements make artificial dualisms such as Italian-foreigner, constructed by certain parties and related to a new 'national foundation’, blurred and confused in nature.

In fact, how can "they" be that different and other from "us" if they were born here and were exposed to the same language and myths (besides other languages and myths)? But their presence and will to erupt on the scene (as they enter the world of professions and the society at large), and being acknowledged by the state and its administration as citizens and subjects with rights, is also what makes that dualism real in its consequences. Will the second generations be eager to accept the marginal role and the segmented positions that the labor market and the law are, de facto, reserving for them?

Is Italy laying the foundation for future strains and social struggles as those that cyclically hit France? What is, in sum, the present and the future of these new Italians? The present issue on citizenship, political participation and belonging of "second generations", as well as the following one devoted to education, family and gender, offer a small contribution to the understanding of the future of Italy and constitute an invitation to avoid using people as symbols.


CONTENTS

Between Kafka and carnevale: an introduction to the immigrant condition in Italy
(Pietro Saitta)

Italiani nuovi o nuova Italia? Citizenship and attitudes towards the second generation in contemporary Italy
(Georgia E. Bianchi)

Citizenship and multiple belonging. Representations of inclusion, identification and participation among children of immigrants in Italy
(Enzo Colombo, Lorenzo Domaneschi & Chiara Marchetti)

Empowerment of young migrants in Italy through nonformal education: putting equality into practice
(Barbara Giovanna Bello)

Everyday practised citizenship and the challenges of representation: second-generation associations in Bologna
(Bruno Riccio & Monica Russo)

‘Loud and clear’: the G2 Second Generations network in Italy
(Dorothy Louise Zinn)
"Gli scandali sessuali che hanno coinvolto il Presidente del Consiglio italiano sul finire degli anni Duemila hanno reso popolare una parola fino a poco tempo nota solo ai frequentatori abituali del sesso a pagamento: “escort”, termine... more
"Gli scandali sessuali che hanno coinvolto il Presidente del Consiglio italiano sul finire degli anni Duemila hanno reso popolare una parola fino a poco tempo nota solo ai frequentatori abituali del sesso a pagamento: “escort”, termine che indica una professionista del sesso che ha tariffe molto alte, non ha un protettore, non si prostituisce per strada, viaggia molto e usa Internet e le nuove tecnologie per farsi pubblicità, prendere appuntamenti e persino farsi pagare.

Niente di più lontano quindi dall`immagine tradizionale della prostituzione, fatta di violenza e sfruttamento, e di spettacoli imbarazzanti per le strade, che diffondono insicurezza e disgusto tra i cittadini.Ma qual è l`immagine che corrisponde meglio alla realtà? Come dimostra il fenomeno “escort`, la verità è che il mondo della prostituzione è profondamente cambiato, e in esso coesistono tipologie diverse, che vanno attentamente interpretare per evitare rappresentazioni stereotipate e pericolose sul piano degli effetti politici.

Ed è appunto questo ciò che fanno gli autori di Sex Industry, che scandagliano l`universo della prostituzione per capire dove finisca la schiavitù e dove inizi la prostituzione intesa come lavoro. Dalla ricerca emerge l`esigenza di guardare al mercato del sesso in maniera meno moralistica e più laica, rinunciando alle categorie vittimali e riconoscendo l`esistenza di “professioniste" di varie nazionalità che scelgono "liberamente" di prostituirsi e preferiscono, in base a una scelta razionale, un lavoro che consenta di guadagnare molto in breve tempo. Inoltre, il libro mette in luce anche l`esistenza di segmenti variegati e crescenti del mercato: non solo donne quindi, ma anche prostituzione omosessuale, sia maschile che femminile, transessuali e transgender, prostituzione maschile per clientela femminile.

Tutto questo non vuol dire che lo sfruttamento sia finito. Sono ancora tante le persone che soffrono una condizione di asservimento e ad esse il libro riserva molto spazio, Tuttavia è necessario capire le nuove dinamiche del mercato del sesso, soprattutto per evitare che le istituzioni, nel contrastare il fenomeno, si appiattiscano su logiche repressive che rischiano di fallire completamente. .

Il volume, infine, si compone di sette capitoli, che trattano la prostituzione in Italia e Russia da prospettive teoriche ed empiriche, impiegando strumenti sia quantitativi che qualitativi (etnografia e interviste in profondità)."
Un'analisi della relazione tra scrittura autobiografica e politica.
L’autoritratto postula platee differenti su cui generare effetti diversi tra loro, volutamente positivi per alcuni e negativi per altri. Inoltre, nel quadro delle possibilità tecnologiche attuali, è proprio questa diversità reattiva che... more
L’autoritratto postula platee differenti su cui generare effetti diversi tra loro, volutamente positivi per alcuni e negativi per altri. Inoltre, nel quadro delle possibilità tecnologiche attuali, è proprio questa diversità reattiva che si ricerca attraverso le immagini. Lo scontro prevedibile che deriverà dalle differenti reazioni e il loro farsi flusso di discorso costituiranno anzi lo spazio “politico”, inteso come insieme di impressioni, emozioni e connessioni logiche che l’emittente aspira a riattivare tra i propri sostenitori. Tali sollecitazioni possono operare come segnali volti a indicare direzioni culturali. Oppure possono svolgere la funzione di promemoria relativi a temi identitari e ad altri valori ritenuti validi per la connessione sentimentale e, a proprio modo, anche “razionale”  (per l’appunto, politica) con la popolazione bersaglio .
This chapter deals with the pandemic management in Italy. It portrays the entanglement of different administrative levels and unveils both the nature of the complex game between these levels and its resulting blurred configurations. Local... more
This chapter deals with the pandemic management in Italy. It portrays the entanglement of different administrative levels and unveils both the nature of the complex game between these levels and its resulting blurred configurations. Local set-ups are the outcome of adaptive processes that combine both technical and political aspects. Indeed, for much of the Italian political world, Covid-19 has become both a stage and an opportunity to climb the ladder of power and blow political competitors. A similar situation results in a complex framework, which does not bode for effectiveness. Things get even more complicated when similar configurations develop within an ideological scenario that is characterized by institutional distrust and diffusion of irrational beliefs. In such a situation, social cohesion decreases, and the population follows different emotive and cognitive tactics to deal with uncertainty and fear. One of these tactics consists in the diffusion of forms of political reliance that turn into charismatic forms of political worship, a necessary condition for the consolidation of populist authoritarianism. I analyse the surrealistic case of the city of Messina (Sicily) and its Mayor, Cateno De Luca, as a particular case and ‘“stage’” to expose the biases of the Italian way to the pandemics.
Il panico morale è un sentimento reattivo che necessita per esistere di: notizie; di strumenti per la messa in circolazione delle notizie; di professionisti della notizia; di un’aspettativa sociale di disgrazia e decadimento, e di una... more
Il panico morale è un sentimento reattivo che necessita per
esistere di: notizie; di strumenti per la messa in circolazione delle notizie; di professionisti della notizia; di un’aspettativa sociale di disgrazia e decadimento, e di una lingua, ovvero uno stile narrativo che sia immediatamente comprensibile. L'intervento esplora dunque tutte queste dimensioni e ne analizza alcune trasformazioni.
L’autoetnogra!a è anche una scrittura autobiografica, ma è distinguibile da quest’ultima perché non pretende di parlare in primo luogo dell’individuo che si racconta, ma di utilizzare il personale per dire qualcosa del mondo. Ossia delle... more
L’autoetnogra!a è anche una scrittura autobiografica, ma è distinguibile da quest’ultima perché non pretende di parlare in primo luogo dell’individuo che si racconta, ma di utilizzare il personale per dire qualcosa del mondo. Ossia delle forze sociali che determinano esperienze intense, dense e di segno per lo più – ma non esclusivamente – negativo. Si tratta dunque di una pratica di scrittura che può avere caratteri terapeutici, volti a riequilibrare le componenti irrisolte di una biografia e a risolvere i conflitti dell'individuo col contesto socioculturale, al fine di risanare attraverso la narrazione variegate forme di “trauma”. ; ma è anche un esercizio sociologico-antropologico di comprensione del reale.
This article summarizes the major outcomes of the studies presented in two special issues of JMIS on children of immigrants in Italy. The authors suggest that Italy is a monochrome society – a society that truly cannot imagine itself as... more
This article summarizes the major outcomes of the studies presented in two special issues of JMIS on children of immigrants in Italy. The authors suggest that Italy is a monochrome society – a society that truly cannot imagine itself as multicultural. The master narrative emerging from opinion polls, political rhetoric and government policy and practice is that Italy remains a white, Catholic nation rooted in Italian soil.The reality this storyline obscures, if not denies, is the significant numerical presence of immigrants, their structural contributions to the economy and Italian competitiveness, and the obvious presence of a new kind of Italian (and therefore the beginnings of a new Italy), seen most clearly in the figure of youth of foreign origins. Italy has changed but it is not keen to acknowledge it.
The author argues that in Italy immigration has become for both left and right-wing moral entrepreneurs a symbolic resource to be employed in the creation and recreation of territorial identities. The permanent endeavor of the Italian... more
The author argues that in Italy immigration has become for both left and right-wing moral entrepreneurs a symbolic resource to be employed in the creation and recreation of territorial identities. The permanent endeavor of the Italian elites is the one of re-proposing the moment of foundation of a ‘community’. What makes Italy complex and fascinating is its carnevale, that is, the simulacrum of a founding that never truly happened and must, subsequently, be periodically reproduced. Besides that, Italy has witnessed the consolidation of a neo-liberal order and the expansion of very local identities, which employ a Kafkian bureaucracy and the law as a way to differentiate insiders and outsiders. This represents the milieu within which ‘second generation immigrants’ develop their own identities and try to erupt in the scene.
The article focuses on Mazara del Vallo, Sicily. It aims to show how a group of Roma from Kosovo, living in the area since the 1970s, has gained a livelihood through such enterprizing methods as music, improvized handicrafts and... more
The article focuses on Mazara del Vallo, Sicily. It aims to show how a group of Roma from Kosovo, living in the area since the 1970s, has gained a livelihood through such enterprizing methods as music, improvized handicrafts and small-scale drug dealing. Their precarious situation is conditioned in large measure by the complex interplay of state regulations and the practice of local authorities. Nevertheless, these individuals have been able to exploit the ambivalence of the authorities as well as opportunities presented by the thoroughgoing informality of this south-western Sicilian city. Although a culture of poverty perspective would suggest that they are merely reproducing poverty from generation to generation, in-depth observation shows that the informal economy represents a paradoxical means for social advancement.
By delving into the recent history of sex work in Italy, and the related practices, discourses and policies implemented in the past sixty or so years in the Bel Paese, this essay suggests that commercial sex is at the center of a... more
By delving into the recent history of sex work in Italy, and the related practices, discourses and policies implemented in the past sixty or so years in the Bel Paese, this essay suggests that commercial sex is at the center of a plurality of forces and
phenomena, which are apparently very distant from it, but converge on this «hub» and, while transforming it into an observation point able to see the changes in the
surrounding society, on occasions use it as a lever to produce transformations. The instrumental and changing nature of commercial sex makes of this object and the people
involved an ambivalent lieu, situated between freedom and repression, change and social conservatism.
Research Interests:
This autoethnography discusses the arrest of a researcher engaged in the study of female street prostitution. The event becomes a way to reflect on the nature of the recently implemented measures for dealing with commercial sex in Italy,... more
This autoethnography discusses the arrest of a researcher engaged in the study of female street prostitution. The event becomes a way to reflect on the nature of the recently implemented measures for dealing with commercial sex in Italy, and the consolidation process of a new penal ethic based on prevention and new powers for the police forces. Within this framework, popular journalism and police activism become intertwined, creating a lethal combination that produces authoritarian scenarios in the government of security.
This paper discusses the findings of an ethnographic study on the relationships between Italians and immigrants in their work environments and outside. The study was carried out in Sicily and Le Marche in the period 2002-2004. In... more
This paper discusses the findings of an ethnographic study on the relationships between Italians and immigrants in their work environments and outside. The study was carried out in Sicily and Le Marche in the period 2002-2004. In particular, the cases of Mazara del Vallo and Urbino are analysed. The observation shows that for the Italians it is not enough that the immigrants work and legally find a means of subsistence; rather, they are interested in the way foreigners work, the diligence they express, and the submissiveness with which they accept their subordination. The author claims that when this perception takes root in the consciousness of an immigrant, crime becomes a rational choice, and is more eligible than work.
This paper examines how legal science can provide new perspectives and instruments of analysis for understanding how action is produced by legal rules in a given system. By treating legal rules as a factor of explanation in perceiving... more
This paper examines how legal science can provide new perspectives and instruments of analysis for understanding how action is produced by legal rules in a given system. By treating legal rules as a factor of explanation in perceiving political action, the authors aim to use them as a means that reflects whether there is a normative determination to generate harmonised legislation with regard to immigration and a "multicultural society" in Europe, or whether there is opposition based on various different national reasons and interests in EU member states. Tools provided by the "science or norms", as defined by the Swedish scholar H. Hydén, are applied to observe immigration policies, both at the supranational (European) level and the national (Italian) level. The results suggest that there is a process of disarticulation of these policies in the heterogeneous position typical of the European Union, which noticeably shows a lack of will to co-ordinate the actions of individual member states and induce them to share common visions on the matter.
The article deploys the data collected in the course of an ethnographic research carried out in Sicily (Mazara del Vallo) and Marche (Urbino) in the years 2002-2004. The original study investigates the relationships between immigrants... more
The article deploys the data collected in the course of an ethnographic research carried out in Sicily (Mazara del Vallo) and Marche (Urbino) in the years 2002-2004. The original study investigates the relationships between immigrants from Tunisia and Morocco, living and working in the considered areas, and the Italians. In the present article, the author relates the results coming from that study to a new issue in the Italian research on immigration: The eligibility of legal works and the crime. The author suggests that, for many immigrants (mostly young), to work is not more eligible than to commit crimes. The status of worker does not affect positively the reputation of the immigrants, who are considered unprofessional and arrogant by the most of the Italian co-workers and residents. By putting this in relation to the low-wages, the levels of exploitation in the labor market, the complicate mechanisms of the bureaucratic machine, and the reduction of social control among the co-nationals, one sees that to commit crimes may be more rational than to work honestly.
This article discusses immigration flows to Italy in the framework of the neoliberal restructuring process of welfare state and the security policies. The author argues that Italy is witnessing the crisis of “zero tolerance” as a means of... more
This article discusses immigration flows to Italy in the framework of the neoliberal restructuring process of welfare state and the security policies. The author argues that Italy is witnessing the crisis of “zero tolerance” as a means of managing social problems, and proposes the subversion of the common perspectives. On the bases of the outcomes of some ethnographic studies previously conducted by the author himself, a few reflections on the virtues of “informality” are proposed. Informality is here intended as the whole of the non-orthodox subsistence practices, and the modes of negotiation between “deviants” and institutions. In the light of empirical evidences, it is suggested that such informal practices should not be repressed, but encouraged.

L’articolo discute il fenomeno dell’immigrazione nella cornice della ristrutturazione neoliberista del welfare e delle politiche di sicurezza. L’autore sostiene che l’Italia stia assistendo alla crisi della “tolleranza zero” come modalità di gestione dei problemi sociali e propone pertanto un ribaltamento delle prospettive di senso comune. Sulla scorta dei risultati derivanti da alcuni studi di tipo etnografico condotti precedentemente, vengono proposte alcune riflessioni sulle virtù dell’“informalità” – intesa tanto come insieme delle pratiche di sussistenza non ortodosse e autonome, quanto come modo di negoziazione nel rapporto tra attori devianti e autorità – e si suggerisce l’opportunità di coltivare tali pratiche anziché reprimerle.
The paper discusses the functionalist and structuralist approaches for the study of immigration, which are two of the most popular categories available to the scholars. Specifically, the author criticizes the rationalist paradigms that... more
The paper discusses the functionalist and structuralist approaches for the study of immigration, which are two of the most popular categories available to the scholars. Specifically, the author criticizes the rationalist paradigms that drive these two approaches and the ambition of their followers to build Grand Theories. The author claims that settlement processes are not characterized by rigid patterns and the goal of ruling migratory flows by deploying economical and rationalist logics may produce illusions of control that are very dangerous and ineffective.
Mazara del Vallo is a town situated on the south-western coast of Sicily. Historically, its proximity to the Tunisian shores has facilitated the exchanges with North-Africa. Today, the ratio of Tunisians living in the town amounts to 8%... more
Mazara del Vallo is a town situated on the south-western coast of Sicily. Historically, its proximity to the Tunisian shores has facilitated the exchanges with North-Africa. Today, the ratio of Tunisians living in the town amounts to 8% of the overall population. Since the 1970s, the massive flows of workers from Tunisia have allowed the town to keep its predominant position in the national fish sector. In the course of the paper, the authors present the results of an ethnographic study on the Casbah – the ethnic neighborhood within the historical center of the town, inhabited for most part by Tunisian immigrants. The mobility of the Tunisians in the local fish and agricultural labor markets, and their “segregated” patterns of settlement are observed. Among other things, the duration of the Tunisian presence in the town allows to analyze the social dynamics generated by the raising of a “second generation” – the only case in the very early 2000's Italy – composed of youngsters in their twenties, and thus provides a rare chance to observe processes and outcomes of an older and consolidate immigrant settlement in the Belpaese. By means of in-depth interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation, the authors reconstruct different types of migratory projects reflecting the plurality of situations and trajectories experienced by the involved individuals.
This article investigates the insertion process of Maghreb immigrants in the economic and social life of a Central Italian industrial district (Pesaro-Urbino, in the Marche region). The author argues that the mere fact of being employed... more
This article investigates the insertion process of Maghreb immigrants in the economic and social life of a Central Italian industrial district (Pesaro-Urbino, in the Marche region). The author argues that the mere fact of being employed does not generate either "integration"or "acceptance" into the Italian society. In fact, what is more important for the natives is: the working discipline of the foreigners, their subordination to the Italian management and colleagues, and the number of worked hours.
The article starts from the debate about the change in citizenship that has been affecting the sociological and politological panorama in recent years and then moves on to ponder legal change and how slowly it takes place, compared to the... more
The article starts from the debate about the change in citizenship that has been affecting the sociological and politological panorama in recent years and then moves on to ponder legal change and how slowly it takes place, compared to the rapid flow of migration, in a perspective that combines elements of legal formalism and sociological realism, investigating the differences between the "literal" inter-pretation of the law (as expressed by national and supra-national legal orders) and its "material" enforcement. In addition, there is a discussion about the advisability of amending the Italian legislation governing rights of citizenship in order to adapt it to society’s new make-up - as has been called for from many sides - maintaining a great deal in terms of (democratic and egalitarian) spirit, but bringing about deci-sive changes in terms of substance. Finally, the author hypothesises an at least minimal explanation of the reasons why Italian law is so slow in adopting the significant stimuli for change coming from the real world.
The article presents the early results of research conducted in Spring 2002 at Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, in one of the most widespread communities of North Africans in Italy. The investigator employs an ethnographic, constructivist... more
The article presents the early results of research conducted in Spring 2002 at Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, in one of the most widespread communities of North Africans in Italy. The investigator employs an ethnographic, constructivist approach using participant observation techniques besides interviews with informants and expatriates residing in the town. The author quickly identifies some of the functions played by Islam in the studied context (identitarian, discursive, and preventive), useful in preserving the life of the group, and supporting members living in poor conditions or without eligibility to access social services. Furthermore, the research investigates the concept of "community" (the exclusive migrant space) as distinct from "society" (the space outside, inhabited by the "others"), and analyses the attitudes towards "life in society" held by the members of the observed groups (primarily Tunisians, but also Romany and, to some extent, Italians), deploying Islam as the common denominator and distinctive element, and seeking to evaluate the importance of religion on the lifestyles and behaviours of the immigrants themselves.
A debate and a critical commentary to a panel on the role of Anthropology in the management of the refugees held at the National Conference of Applied Anthropology held in Trento on December 2016. This conversation opposes the "radical"... more
A debate and a critical commentary to a panel on the role of Anthropology in the management of the refugees  held at the National Conference of Applied Anthropology held in Trento on December 2016. This conversation opposes the "radical" and more "moderate" voices of Pietro Saitta and Armando Cutolo that reflect on the opportunity of an involvement of Anthropology as an institutionalized discipline and profession with the centers for refugees, and the other tools deployed by the States to tackle and contain immigration and freedom of movement.
Research Interests:
La presente autoetnografia prende le mosse dal fermo, attuato dalla polizia, di un ricercatore impegnato nello studio della prostituzione femminile di strada. L’evento si traduce in un pretesto per riflettere sulla natura delle politiche... more
La presente autoetnografia prende le mosse dal fermo, attuato dalla polizia, di un ricercatore impegnato nello studio della prostituzione femminile di strada. L’evento si traduce in un pretesto per riflettere sulla natura delle politiche di contrasto al sesso commerciale e sull’affermazione in Italia di una nuova etica penale fondata sulla prevenzione e sul conferimento di nuovi poteri alle forze di polizia. Inoltre, in questa cornice discorso mediatico e attivismo poliziesco si fondono dando luogo ad una letale combinazione che configura scenari autoritari nel governo della sicurezza.
CONTRASTING WHAT? THE ANTI-PROSTITUTION MEASURES AS MIGRATION AND 'ORDER' POLICIES This article presents the results of an ethnographic research on the Romanian heterosexual prostitution carried out in the city of Messina. By employing a... more
CONTRASTING WHAT? THE ANTI-PROSTITUTION MEASURES AS MIGRATION AND 'ORDER' POLICIES

This article presents the results of an ethnographic research on the Romanian heterosexual prostitution carried out in the city of Messina. By employing a number of different sources, the author relates the local and national levels, and claims that current policies implemented by the Italian authorities do not aim to contrast prostitution. Rather, these are policies “of order” and control of illegal migrations. The paper highlights the failure of the measures intended to support exploited people, and suggests that we are witnessing the instrumental and paradoxical employment of human rights to conduct a struggle against women, marginal people, and the poor.
The present essay investigates the settlement process of a Roma community in the Sicilian Town of Mazara del Vallo. It suggests that, in spite of the high levels of discrimination, the Roma community became part of the national... more
The present essay investigates the settlement process of a Roma community in the Sicilian Town of Mazara del Vallo. It suggests that, in spite of the high levels of discrimination, the Roma community became part of the national underclass, and that the integration within this class takes place through a set of informal practices involving the community and the State. The author describes the trajectory followed by this community in the aftermath of the Kosovo war of the 1990s, and reflects on some elements apt to generate a theory of action concerning the relation between individuals and the State.
This essay explores the semantics of the term “informal economy” and, in particular, the relation between the two words. It shows how this subject is anything but something with no form and no structure.... more
This  essay  explores  the  semantics  of  the  term  “informal  economy”  and,  in  particular,  the  relation  between  the  two  words.  It  shows  how  this  subject  is  anything  but  something  with  no  form  and  no  structure.  Moreover,  it  reflects  on  the  historical  relations  between  this  type  of  economy  and  the  cyclical  transfor-mations  of  capital.  Informal  economy  is  seen  as  a  buffer  that  makes  such  changes  both  socially  bearable  and  symbolically  necessary  –  in  order  to  produce  alliances  between  classes  and  mobilize  different  sentiments  in  given  circumstances.  The  example  of  (neo-)populism(s),  especially  in  a  Southern  Italian  city  (Messina),  is  provided  and  shortly  discussed.  Finally,  it  advocates  descriptions  of  the  phenom-enon  that  unfold  the  substantial  overlapping  of  what  is  official  and  “secret”,  and  is  in fact part of the experience of millions of people in an endlessly changing world.
The present article discusses the history of a Roma community settled in Mazara del Vallo (Sicily). The experience of such community becomes a way to reflect on the role of informal practices in determining positive, albeit paradoxical,... more
The present article discusses the history of a Roma community settled in Mazara del Vallo (Sicily). The experience of such community becomes a way to reflect on the role of informal practices in determining positive, albeit paradoxical, changes concerning people at the margins. The paper is intended to de-structurate a significant part of the securitarian discourse shaping the immigration policies in Italy. Yet, it aims to show how certain forms of deviance can be propedeutic to the insertion of migrants in the Italian society and economy, and it advocates for a return to welfarianism.
PURPOSE – The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between “informal economies” and the concept of “resistance.” The author argues that the petty illegalities of the dominated and subaltern classes should be seen in their... more
PURPOSE – The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between “informal economies” and the concept of “resistance.” The author argues that the petty illegalities of the dominated and subaltern classes should be seen in their connections to the illegalism of the élites and the state. Within this framework, the informal economy is seen as both the outcome of a set of material conditions aiming at the subordinated inclusion of entire classes of citizens, and the mark of the willingness by these same subalterns to evade the bonds imposed on them by the legislations and the social hierarchies.

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH – A review of the ethnographical and socio-economical literature on the issue
of informality, accompanied by ex-post reflections on pertinent studies conducted in the past by the researcher.

FINDINGS – Against the dominant public rhetoric, the informal economy is here seen as a particular space of enactment by the dominated and subalterns aimed at self-producing paradoxical forms of inclusion
within social contexts characterized by barriers to access integration within mainstream society. It is argued that in consideration of the power relations that structure the “field,” researchers themselves become part of the struggle counterpoising individuals and institutions, and should thus make a choice among the clashing parties.

ORIGINALITY – The paper draws on a vast body of literature that appears to go in the same direction. However, it radicalizes the instances proposed by previous authors and studies, and draws conclusions
concerning the nature of the object and the ethics of research, that are opposed to the prevalent approaches to the subject.
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Il saggio esplora le connessioni tra le «economie informali» e il concetto di «resistenza». La tesi sostenuta è che l’illegalità dei subalterni vada vista nelle sue relazioni con quella dei potenti e dello Stato. In questa cornice... more
Il saggio esplora le connessioni tra le «economie informali» e il concetto di «resistenza». La tesi sostenuta è che l’illegalità dei subalterni vada vista nelle sue relazioni con quella dei potenti e dello Stato. In questa cornice l’economia informale è tanto il prodotto di un insieme di condizioni materiali tendenti all’inclusione subordinata di intere classi di cittadini quanto il segno di una volontà dei subalterni di aggirare i vincoli imposti dalla legislazione e dalle gerarchie materiali del sociale. Contro le retoriche dominanti in materia di ordine pubblico, l’economia informale viene vista come un particolare spazio di attivazione dei cittadini «marginali» atto a produrre paradossali forme di inclusione.
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Nel paper si suggerisce che il concetto di “sopravvivenza” possa indicare con precisione maggiore rispetto a quello di “resistenza” la natura delle poste, dei contesti e delle pratiche che caratterizzano quei gruppi sociali e quegli... more
Nel paper si suggerisce che il concetto di “sopravvivenza” possa indicare con precisione maggiore rispetto a quello di  “resistenza” la natura delle poste, dei contesti e delle pratiche che caratterizzano quei gruppi sociali e quegli ambienti urbani marginalizzati che si ritrovano al centro di molte analisi socio-antropologiche. La nozione di sopravvivenza, in particolare, si presta a nostro avviso a definire con maggiore precisione e con minori rischi di estetizzazione  quelle situazioni che non appaiono caratterizzate da una esplicita politicizzazione, specie per quanto concerne l’intenzionalità del soggetto debole dell’interazione: quello, cioè, marginalizzato.
This short essay is an introduction to the volume "Getting By or Getting Rich. The Formal, Informal and Criminal Economy in a Globalized World". The author rejects merely institutional and legalistic definitions of this phenomenon and... more
This short essay is an introduction to the volume "Getting By or Getting Rich. The Formal, Informal and Criminal Economy in a Globalized World". The author rejects merely institutional and legalistic definitions of this phenomenon and suggests that the study of informality should rather include the State among the actors and the elements to be put under scrutiny. Informality is seen as «space of contradictions» within which oppression, discretion, resistance, liberation, and the reproduction of social relations constantly take place. A presentation of collected essays follows.
The paper reflects on the uses of the concept of gentrification, and finds it that there is often a misuse of it both in the urban studies and in the common language. First of all, against users’ purposes, the word can easily become part... more
The paper reflects on the uses of the concept of gentrification, and finds it that there is often a misuse of it both in the urban studies and in the common language. First of all, against users’ purposes, the word can easily become part of the identitarian jargon aimed at consolidating boundaries within the city. Secondly, general uses of the word can lead to the loss of details concerning the social forces behind the exclusionary processes that affect neighborhoods and cites. Dynamics falling under the same tag operate at a local level; the indiscriminate adoption of concepts, therefore, could hide networks, interests, and alliances that hold a stake in the determination of the processes, and should be understood in local terms. Thirdly, the word gentrification
implies a social composition based on affluence, youth, creative jobs
and a the presence of a developed culture and service industry. Thus it is apt to describe only a limited set of cites, and it cannot be easily used in contexts that do not present higher levels of social differentiation. Fourthly, it is suggested that gentrification is rather a symptom than the actual cause of urban changes. Within the framework of a growing politicization of the concepts, it is necessary to distinguish among causes and consequences.
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The paper reflects on the notion of “margin” as an analytical category. It shows the ambivalence and the derogatory connotations of the word in both the scientific and common uses. Then, it reflects on the semantic inaccuracy of the term,... more
The paper reflects on the notion of “margin” as an analytical category. It
shows the ambivalence and the derogatory connotations of the word in both the scientific and common uses. Then, it reflects on the semantic inaccuracy of the term, insofar that, within the city, the margin and the center coincide and sustain each other reciprocally. It is therefore suggested that the dialectic among the two is inscribed within regimes of visibility determined by the political phases in given moments. Finally, the margin is seen as the place of a politicization, often involuntary, that generates poetics whose sign and validity are opposed, but are equally at risk of producing forms of orientalism.

Il saggio riflette sulla nozione di margine come categoria analitica. Mostra le ambivalenze e il carattere moralista dell’espressione negli usi scientifici e comuni. Riflette inoltre sull’imprecisione semantica, nella misura in cui, nella realtà urbana, margine e centro collimano e si alimentano reciprocamente. Si suggerisce, dunque, che la dialettica tra i due punti sia iscritta entro regimi di visibilità determinati dalla fase politica complessiva. Il margine viene infine analizzato come luogo di una politicizzazione, spesso involontaria, che suscita poetiche di segno e validità opposti, che non devono però dare luogo a forme di orientalismo.
The study inquiries into the life of a radical formation that works on the right to housing in the city of Messina (Italy, Sicily). Communist militants and families in seek of a house, are here observed over the course of their... more
The study inquiries into the life of a radical formation that works on the right to
housing in the city of Messina (Italy, Sicily). Communist militants and families
in seek of a house, are here observed over the course of their collective life
and interactions in an occupied place. The focus of the study is represented
by the unexpected eruption of the ghosts in the life of the group, and the ways
through which such entities are deployed by the members in order to challenge
internal hierarchies, create new social orders, and find moral justifications for
both collective and personal conducts. The study shows how of such ghosts are
made tactic uses, which have the effect to produce the reality as well as forms
of coherent conduct – so overcoming the dichotomy between «believers» and
«non-believers», and showing the plausibility of «magic» as a ruling force in
the contemporary urban environment.
The present article analyzes the role that shopkeepers play in the life of cities in terms of space production, cultures, and policies on the use of public space. Shopkeepers are seen as the co-promotors of a revanchist culture that... more
The present article analyzes the role that shopkeepers play in the life of cities in terms of space production, cultures, and policies on the use of public space. Shopkeepers are seen as the co-promotors of a revanchist culture that affects liberties in contemporary cities. In the light of such premises, the present theoretical study inquires into the intertwinements between this group and the dominant populist political offer. The combination of power of influence, sense of loss, and exposition to political offers that promise to give back stability, by recreating known worlds made of traditional hierarchies, roles. and sentiments, all of them situated in the locality, appears as the recipe for the re-proposition of historical authoritarian alliances that participated partook[Q2] to the making of the contemporary exclusionary city. KEYWORDS Shopkeepers urban populism petty bourgeoisie space social classes This essay deals with themes that pertain to the making, and the uses, of an authoritarian structure of sentiments that can be found in many countries and cities in the present time. The discussion will provide many examples. But one in particular concerns a medium-sized Sicilian city, Messina, which has inspired many of the following reflections[Q3].
The present essay provides an inquiry into the local manifestations of urban populism. That is, on the process that consists in the adaptation of national themes and techniques of constitution of supportive public opinions to local... more
The present essay provides an inquiry into the local manifestations of urban populism. That is, on the process that consists in the adaptation of national themes and techniques of constitution of supportive public opinions to local milieus. The case of Messina and its Mayor Cateno De Luca are at the center of this study. By means of an analysis of the public debate raised by this mayor, the reconstruction of his "phenomenology", and the description of the forms of opposition that his actions meet, the study shows how this local example of populism aims at identifying internal, rather external enemies. Such discourse, moreover, is characterized by the obsession for "modernity". Rather than representing the local world as exposed to a "siege" by external invaders, this example of local populism aims to pursue a "project of civilization" of the city that is couched within the Southern Question and the related complex of being "backward".

Il presente saggio indaga le manifestazioni locali di quello che viene chiamato populismo urbano. Il caso di Messina e del suo sindaco Cateno De Luca sono al centro di questo studio. Per mezzo dell'analisi del dibattito pubblico sollevato dal politico, la ricostruzione della sua "fenomenologia" e la descrizione delle forme di opposizione discorsiva che incontrano le sue azioni, lo studio mostra come questo esempio locale di populismo miri a identificare nemici interni anziché esterni. Invece di rappresentare la società locale come se fosse esposta all'assedio di un nemico esterno, questo esempio cittadino di populismo mira a perseguire un "progetto di civilizzazione" urbano che è collocato dentro il lascito della Questione meridionale e il correlato complesso di "arretratezza".

The present essay provides an inquiry into the local manifestations of urban populism. That is, on the process that consists in the adaptation of national themes and techniques of constitution of supportive public opinions to local milieus. The case of Messina and its Mayor Cateno De Luca are at the center of this study. By means of an analysis of the public debate raised by this mayor, the reconstruction of his "phenomenology", and the description of the forms of opposition that his actions meet, the study shows how this local example of populism aims at identifying internal, rather external enemies. Such discourse, moreover, is characterized by the obsession for "modernity". Rather than representing the local world as exposed to a "siege" by external invaders, this example of local populism aims to pursue a "project of civilization" of the city that is couched within the Southern Question and the related complex of being "backward".
The present essay focuses on the theoretical production that accompanied the appearance of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2020. The study observes the production of articles published on the Italian cultural magazines, and reflects on the... more
The present essay focuses on the theoretical production that accompanied the appearance of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2020. The study observes the production of articles published on the Italian cultural magazines, and reflects on the dynamics, the interests and the cultural milieu within which ideas are developed, elaborated and, finally, launched in to the public sphere. The article also reflects on the typical elements that compose the act of writing in an era of crisis, and the recursive themes that characterize this writing and the thoughts it expresses over the course of history. Yet, this essay focuses on the specific elements of this social elaboration and provides a list of approaches with different orientations towards time (past, present and future), level involved (base and superstructure) and themes (culture, economy, technologies, social control, etc.). The underlying thesis of the essay, finally, is that writing and producing ideas is a typical ritual of disasters time and that the motives, the fears and the approaches towards present and future conditions present element of communality that are embodied in the individual and in the structural culture of nations.
The present article reflects on the management of the pandemic crisis that hit Italy in the early months of 2020. Different administrative, social and political plans are entangled in the discussion and analyzed in their intertwinement.... more
The present article reflects on the management of the pandemic crisis that hit Italy in the early months of 2020. Different administrative, social and political plans are entangled in the discussion and analyzed in their intertwinement. The main hypothesis discussed in the article is that the local level within which social events take place are not really specific. Rather they appear to be the outcome of an adaptive process that contains broader elements. Above all, the local level is the one within which the "real life" develops, together with its perceptions and beliefs. This is even more true in a framework-as the Italian one over the pandemic crisis-that has been characterized by a plurality of normative setups. An organization that produced different scenarios within the same crisis, and that reflected the specific interests of different actors active in the territories. The surrealistic case of the city of Messina (Sicily) and its peculiar Mayor, is the particular case and "stage" analyzed by the author in order to expose the biases of the Italian way to the pandemics.
Research Interests:
Undesired events take place within social spaces endowed with different resources, political situations and histories. This basic rule is even truer when an event has a world-wide scale, as in the case of Covid-19. In this framework,... more
Undesired events take place within social spaces endowed with different resources, political situations and histories. This basic rule is even truer when an event has a world-wide scale, as in the case of Covid-19. In this framework, «social distancing» is likely to produce different responses due to local features. In addition, under the umbrella of the central State, local authorities have degrees of freedom that are used to perform according to the personal aspirations of political leaders. This short paper is based on the dynamics that one of these local leaders, the mayor of Messina (Sicily, Italy), sets in motion. Such mayor gets to compete with the central state, and establishes a rule that interferes with the indications of the central State. The irresponsibility of such conducts generates a steady reaction by a group of citizens. This paper, thus,
reflects on the secondary (political) effects of the pandemic, the emotional response and the political tactics of a spontaneous grass-root movement that develops through the Internet in a regime of «social distancing».

Keywords: disasters, resistance, Messina, local/global, social media
Through a reflexive and auto-ethnographic analysis, the present article discusses meanings and effects of the governance that, in Italy, followed the 2020 pandemic crisis. The essay shows how, paradoxically, the political imperative of... more
Through a reflexive and auto-ethnographic analysis, the present article
discusses meanings and effects of the governance that, in Italy, followed
the 2020 pandemic crisis. The essay shows how, paradoxically, the political imperative of isolating and distancing has produced the emergence of collective sentiments that, at least in some cases, have not resulted in the primacy of the “private”, but in digital forms of political participation. Thus, a type of governance that presented the risk to dissolve the social space through the suspension of public forms of sociability, in certain Italian areas showed to be: a) a measure apt to create forms of sentimental connection between atomized individuals; b) the object of a resistance against the urban authoritarianism of city mayors and presidents of the Regions devoted to populist style of government and interested to use the current crisis as an instrument to climb new political positions; c) a way to relief the individual strains deriving from a crisis that, for generations that have never experienced comparable social traumas, was unprecedented.
The article provides an analysis of the urban regeneration process in the city of Messina (Sicily). The case at hand is seen in the light of the “language of risk” employed by local powers. The analysis of the discourse shows the... more
The article provides an analysis of the urban regeneration process in
the city of Messina (Sicily). The case at hand is seen in the light of the
“language of risk” employed by local powers. The analysis of the discourse shows the disconnection between scientific meanings and public uses of the notion of risk (and other related concepts such as health, harm, danger etc.). Moreover, this specific urban regeneration process, and the conceptual frameworks deployed in order to start it, are put into connection to “urban (neo)populism”. Such type of populism adapts general terms and issues to local histories and collective complexes. The
outcome is the “dialectization” of global themes and political repertoires,
and the production of political and sentimental “hybrids” that are placed
at the same time within the global and the local. While, overall, this is
not new, the point is to reflect upon the scattered effects of conceptual
dissociations related to actual risks, and the production of new and dispersed common senses that compete both with the scientific one and the principle of general interest.
"This study explores the historical development of urban stratification in an Italian Southern city, Messina. By means of 85 in-depth interviews and the analysis of the most important phases of the reconstruction following a disastrous... more
"This study explores the historical development of urban stratification in an Italian Southern city, Messina. By means of 85 in-depth interviews and the analysis of the most important phases of the reconstruction following a disastrous earthquake
taking place in 1908, the authors investigate the coercive forces that, over the course of a century, have pushed thousands of individuals to occupy shanties and deprived project areas within the city. The authors claim that the “economy of disaster” and the “shock economy”, are not a specific feature of current epoch.
On the contrary, the elements characterizing the contemporary disaster-related speculative processes were largely active at the beginning of the XX century. This article, then, shows the long-lasting social consequences of speculative approaches to the management of disasters, and reflects on the forms of resistance of subaltern populations to an organization of life that started in the aftermath of a remote earthquake, and still affects their life condition and methods of reproduction."
Through the historical reconstruction of the events following the big 1908 earthquake, the article observes the process of formation of a subaltern class in the city of Messina, the phenomena of space appropriation by the same class and... more
Through the historical reconstruction of the events following the big
1908 earthquake, the article observes the process of formation of a subaltern class in the city of Messina, the phenomena of space appropriation by the same class and some elementary forms of resistance shown by individuals and groups. The thesis maintained is that subaltern spaces placed at the border between legality and illegality hide political and economical forms of enactment that actively oppose the standardized and globalized practices of social intervention under neoliberalism, and thus represent an object that escapes hegemonic simplifications made popular by the current discourse on order.
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Messina è stata per circa un secolo una città di slum. Colpita da un disastroso sisma nel 1908, oltre che dai bombardamenti del Secondo conflitto mondiale, la città ha visto la propria ricostruzione durare almeno mezzo secolo. La storia... more
Messina è stata per circa un secolo una città di slum. Colpita da un disastroso sisma nel 1908, oltre che dai bombardamenti del Secondo conflitto mondiale, la città ha visto la propria ricostruzione durare almeno mezzo secolo. La storia recente della città è dunque contrassegnata da una sostanziale continuità nella marginalità, che mantiene pressoché inalterata la cifra dei soggetti posti alla base della divisione sociale e le gerarchie urbane. Questo "problema di civiltà" genera discorsi e confini simbolici nello spazio pubblico: gli stessi posti al centro di questa rapida analisi.
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La «teppificazione» del sociale, senza significative differenze tra le classi e con modalità che includono i ricchissimi, viene qui intesa come una forma di sedazione sia delle inquietudini generate dall’instabilità delle posizioni di... more
La «teppificazione» del sociale, senza significative differenze tra le classi e con modalità che includono i ricchissimi, viene qui intesa come una forma di sedazione sia delle inquietudini generate dall’instabilità delle posizioni di privilegio ereditate, sia dalla fissità inaggirabile degli status ascritti che collocano i soggetti “in basso”. Tale processo viene conseguentemente considerato qui come una risposta adattiva al fantasma di un inevitabile precipizio, che assilla tanto gli individui giovani di classe media e medio-bassa così come la generazione dei loro padri, i quali individuano un problema ed escogitano i termini per stigmatizzarlo. La teppificazione può essere altresì intesa come il segno di una progettualità mancante, tanto come conseguenza di percezioni fondate sull’impossibilità individuale e collettiva di incidere sul reale e le sue direzioni di marcia, quanto come assenza di una reale necessità di farlo (in particolare nel caso degli individui giovani maggiormente ricchi).
This essay explores the connections between the notions of public space and resistance, and deploys secondary ethnographic data. The idea at the center of this study is that, as it is obvious, public space within the contemporary... more
This essay explores the connections between the notions of public space and resistance, and deploys secondary ethnographic data. The idea at the center of this study is that, as it is obvious, public space within the contemporary metropolis is exposed to substantial forms of denial, stemming from the partnership of State and private enterprise – something that allows to give meanings much different from the official ones to the illegality of the
subaltern classes and the ‘rebels’. In particular, such denial of the public allows to interpret the actions of both these groups, apparently aimed at unlawful appropriations and privatizations of the space, in terms of resistance, and the seek for redistribution and social justice. Over the course of the
paper, various forms of illegality and both ‘manifest’ and  ‘invisible’ conflicts around space, sociability and the rights to the city are investigated.
The present essay – an introduction to the special issue of ERQ on «Informal economies: oppressions, negotiations, resistances» – explores nature and meanings of «informal economy» in the societal organization. In particular, it provides... more
The present essay – an introduction to the special issue of ERQ on «Informal economies: oppressions, negotiations, resistances» – explores nature and meanings of «informal economy» in the societal organization. In particular, it provides a critical perspective aimed at rejecting merely institutional and legalistic definitions of this phenomenon. The author suggests that the study of informality should include the State, its elites and regulations among the actors and the elements to be put under scrutiny. Informal economy, thus, is seen as the outcome of a complex interplay among official and unofficial worlds. Far from being just a legal problem, and depending on the circumstances, informality is a «space of contradictions» within which oppression, discretion, resistance, liberation, and the reproduction of social relations constantly take place.
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And 30 more

Questa relazione va intesa come un tentativo di ricostruzione di una rete sparsa e per lo più disorganizzata di persone che cerca di praticare forme di resistenza dentro l’Università e la società, in una cornice che non solo è sempre più... more
Questa relazione va intesa come un tentativo di ricostruzione di una rete sparsa e per lo più disorganizzata di persone che cerca di praticare forme di resistenza dentro l’Università e la società, in una cornice che non solo è sempre più autoritaria e anti-intellettuale, ma che inizia anche a criminalizzare i settori non-conformi della cultura; quelli, cioè, che rifiutano identità e ruoli essenzialmente tecnocratici o di riproduzione ideologica.
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From June 3 to 6, 2020 it will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 8th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa and the... more
From June 3 to 6, 2020 it will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 8th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa and the Italian publisher Il Mulino.

The present call for papers solicits contributions that investigate the making and the diffusion of a chauvinistic and nostalgic mentality in the life of communities. The urban areas as well as the rural ones, the
middle classes as well as the new working classes, the private space of homes as well as the public space, should be at the center of ethnographic and qualitative accounts that reflect on the structural, ecological and cultural elements that shape certain feelings and generate visible and semi-visible forms of conflict in the social space. The proposed papers should pay attention to the intimate aspects of the process of construction of a chauvinistic mentality and put into connection different “worlds of life” (home, work, school, peer
culture, media etc.) in order to show how different elements concur in creating authoritarian personalities and orientations as well as in constituting defensive forms of social cohesion that can operate in both private and public space.

Authors interested in this initiative should submit an abstract (max. 1,000 words) and/or a short video by January 10, 2020 to: Pietro Saitta (pisait@gmail.com), and erq.conference@unibg.it

For further information about the conference:
http://www.etnografiaricercaqualitativa.it
Research Interests:
From June 6 to 9, 2018 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 7th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa and the... more
From June 6 to 9, 2018 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 7th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa and the Italian publisher Il Mulino. The present call for papers solicits either ethnographic or qualitative contributions that deal with the theme of the intimate life of power, highlighting aspects related to everyday life as well as the ideology of the upper classes (e.g., managers, political bankers, entrepreneurs, heirs, new rich and influencers) caught in the system of relations within their group as well as in the “interplay” that opposes, resembles and overlaps other classes for varied purposes – linked to domination or “existential” needs. Methodological contributions, based both on primary research accounts and secondary data, that reflect on the problems of access to social spheres characterized by asymmetries working against researchers, are also encouraged.  Authors interested in this initiative should submit an abstract (1,000 words) by January, 15, 2018 to: pisait@gmail.com, erq.conference@unibg.it


For further information about the conference and how to apply:
http://www.etnografiaricercaqualitativa.it/
Research Interests:
L'etnografia può essere uno strumento per mettere a nudo relazioni di potere dissimulate, per smascherare rappresentazioni banali e fuorvianti, per proporre letture che sovvertano l'ordine egemonico del discorso. Questa potenzialità... more
L'etnografia può essere uno strumento per mettere a nudo relazioni di potere dissimulate, per smascherare rappresentazioni banali e fuorvianti, per proporre letture che sovvertano l'ordine egemonico del discorso. Questa potenzialità avvicina molti studenti alla antropologia, ma ultimamente in Italia ha anche attirato le attenzioni di polizia e magistratura.

La gravità degli eventi recenti e lo scenario che prefigurano meritino un incontro nazionale per portare alla luce esperienze critiche, per proporre analisi pubbliche delle forme di censura contemporanee, per costruire un coordinamento in difesa della libertà di ricerca.

Con il presente Call for papers si sollecitano contributi che riflettano e informino su situazioni critiche e di persecuzione a danni di studiosi.
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From June 8 to 11, 2016 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 6th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal «Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa» (ERQ), and... more
From June 8 to 11, 2016 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the 6th Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal «Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa» (ERQ), and the Italian publisher Il Mulino. The present call for papers solicits either ethnographic or qualitative contributions that deal with the theme of invisible resistances in the realms of everyday life, labor and public space, and that show how politics and struggles move to private and quotidian plans, often illegal, which parallel the more conventional forms of collective action. Methodological contributions, based both on primary research accounts and secondary ethnographical and historical data that reflect on the problems of the recognition of resistances and the politics of writing, are also encouraged.
Research Interests:
From June 5 to 7, 2014 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal "Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa" and the Italian... more
From June 5 to 7, 2014 will take place in Bergamo (Italy) the Conference of Ethnography and Qualitative Research, organized by the University of Bergamo in collaboration with the journal "Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa" and the Italian publisher Il Mulino. The present call for paper solicits both ethnographic and qualitative contributions that deal with disastrous events in the widest possible sense; that analyze the social, economic, historical, legal and political context within which disasters develop; and, finally, explain how the restoration of “normal” life conditions are, or are not, pursued by different private and institutional actors.
The theme of the workshop concerns the relation between environment and populations in areas at risk. It aims at exploring how lay-actors’ reactions to environmental manipulation attempted by states and corporations challenge the law, the... more
The theme of the workshop concerns the relation between environment and populations in areas at risk. It aims at exploring how lay-actors’ reactions to environmental manipulation attempted by states and corporations challenge the law, the policies concerning the development of the areas, the notion of general interest, citizenship, etc. The workshop, thus, is interested in shedding light on the interplay, the techniques and the effects of the struggles for environment and development. In particular, postcolonial reflections on the relations between space, “development” and the law are welcomed. Finally, the workshop is open to any kind of method, but it especially favours qualitative and ethnographic investigations on the subject. (For a broader description: http://2013rcslcongress.sciencespo-toulouse.fr/IMG/pdf/Call_for_Papers_-_Environment_and_the_Law.pdf

DEADLINES AND SUBMISSIONS:
Authors interested in this initiative should submit an abstract (max 300 words) by February 1, 2013.
A complete version of the paper should be sent by June 30, 2013.
For submissions please use the following link: http://2013rcslcongress.sciencespo-toulouse.fr/call-for-papers

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORKSHOP (NOT THE CONGRESS) PLEASE CONTACT:
Pietro Saitta (pisait@gmail.com) and Ilaria Lazzerini (lazzerini.ilaria@yahoo.it).
Research Interests:
Due to the lack of adequate shelter, the Prefecture [representing the central government of Italy in a province] of Messina requested that the local university make some of its buildings available for this purpose. The Prefecture’s... more
Due to the lack of adequate shelter, the Prefecture [representing the central government of Italy in a province] of Messina requested that the local university make some of its buildings available for this purpose. The Prefecture’s “Security Committee”, after rejecting the university student houses as incompatible with proper surveillance, decided to co-opt the “Palanebiolo” sports center of the local University to receive the first cohort of 180 asylum seekers. Between October and December, groups of men, women, and minors were accommodated in an emergency dormitory set up in the outdoor baseball court. Yet the “Palanebiolo” was clearly inadequate for the basic needs of such a large number of people, and soon health and hygiene
problems arose.
This chapter discusses how the construction of urban public and private space in the city of Messina followed lines of intervention that, from post-earthquake reconstruction onwards, relegated marginalized subjects to specific areas of... more
This chapter discusses how the construction of urban public and private space in the city of Messina followed lines of intervention that, from post-earthquake reconstruction onwards, relegated marginalized subjects to specific areas of the city, and housed them in specific types of accommodation in order to make the most of ground rent, favor speculative building by large landowners and build patronage networks. This is a process of marginalization that resulted from public policies, but, in common discourse, it is embodied in the unacceptable formula of a “shanty culture”. Against such wisdom, and by means of in-depth interviews, the study reveals how, in the face of this sort of symbolic violence, such marginalized population puts into practice social mobility strategies, geared toward owning their own home and reproducing middle-class lifestyles.
Research Interests:
Starting from an analysis of the public discourse, identitarian representations, and practices, this chapter aims to show that stereotypical and essentialist representations can sometimes be changed, challenged, adapted, and politically... more
Starting from an analysis of the public discourse, identitarian representations, and practices, this chapter aims to show that stereotypical and essentialist representations can sometimes be changed, challenged, adapted, and politically activated by the subaltern in order to make specific claims and can also often be reversed. In particular, this chapter analyzes the objectivation strategies put in place by the “outsiders” (those who do not live in the slums), in line with their role (journalists, politicians, strangers, or the citizens of Messina), and the tactics used by the slum residents to resist, subvert, or exploit such stereotypical representations according to their needs and the political framework in a given time.
This chapter discusses how subjects belonging to subaltern classes have made use of the gaps left open by local powers, to access forms of fragmented and unstable social mobility. Through biographical analyses, this part of the study... more
This chapter discusses how subjects belonging to subaltern classes have made use of the gaps left open by local powers, to access forms of fragmented and unstable social mobility. Through biographical analyses, this part of the study provides some reflections on the subaltern condition in the city of Messina and, to some extent, in southern Italy as a whole. The studied biographies appear individualistic and liminal, suspended as they are between the legal and illegal, and seen alongside an order which can ultimately be defined as mafioso. The study puts forward the idea that these existential paths and the connected visions should be seen as intimately political processes—aimed at moderating asymmetries and structural injustices—as well as the outcome of emotional processes characterized by the systematic frustration of aspirations and desires.
Following the 1908 earthquake, the establishment of new channels for financing reconstruction and the creation of special agencies for the financial management of economic flow casted Messina into the hands of small groups of interest... more
Following the 1908 earthquake, the establishment of new channels for financing reconstruction and the creation of special agencies for the financial management of economic flow casted Messina into the hands of small groups of interest that reconfigured the city both socially and physically. In particular, the considerable extension of the post-disaster city is seen as the result of speculative processes encouraged by the financial mechanisms of reconstruction. This chapter, thus, explores the post-disaster processes that led, on the one hand, to the emergence of new forms of spatial segregation and the rise of a new urban underclass, and, on the other hand, to the consolidation of mechanisms that contributed to the rise of a number of families that transmit their power and influence from generation to generation.
The Italian south, the Mezzogiorno, is often described as being impervious to modernization, with an innate attitude of inertia and even illegality. Contrary to similar narrations, the chapter suggests that the south mirrors dynamics and... more
The Italian south, the Mezzogiorno, is often described as being impervious to modernization, with an innate attitude of inertia and even illegality. Contrary to similar narrations, the chapter suggests that the south mirrors dynamics and organizational choices that pertain to the Italian State formation process. Since the Unity, the national division of labor and functions assigned precise roles to the southern areas of the country. The creation of a southern reserve labor army, the artificial production of new markets for the northern industry, and the early processes of tertiarization are examined into details. Within this historical framework, the chapter shows how the southern Italian cities, Messina included, intercepted such processes and adjusted accordingly, showing rationality rather than mere malfunctioning and backwardness.
This chapter introduces the notion of disaster and provides a selection of key themes derived from the current sociological and anthropological debate on undesired events. Disasters are interpreted as elements that can revitalize old... more
This chapter introduces the notion of disaster and provides a selection of key themes derived from the current sociological and anthropological debate on undesired events. Disasters are interpreted as elements that can revitalize old fractures and lines of separation that are at the very basis of the processes of national formation. These crises generate multiple interpretations and are experienced differently by different groups. Disasters, thus, appear as cultural phenomena that reflect the plurality of positions and hierarchies present in a given society. That is, elements that produce different responses, and subsequent “structural amnesias” and “memories”. Tragic collective events, moreover, are seen as occurrences that “augment” social reality by increasing the visibility of social structures and hidden tendencies. This set of theories is applied to the case at hand to reflect on the cultural and political outcomes of the seismic crisis in the Sicilian city at the center of the study.
This chapter presents scopes and themes of the book. Above all, it introduces the case of Messina (Sicily, Italy), a city hit by a disastrous earthquake in 1908. With figures comprised between 65,000 and 86,000 victims, the scale of the... more
This chapter presents scopes and themes of the book. Above all, it introduces the case of Messina (Sicily, Italy), a city hit by a disastrous earthquake in 1908. With figures comprised between 65,000 and 86,000 victims, the scale of the event was apocalyptical. The Messina earthquake was the first massive disaster that hit Italy after the Unification. The event, thus, acquired symbolic and political meanings for the national government of the time, and it was intended by the State as an occasion to perform according to very modern notions of efficiency and effectiveness. The chapters suggests that this old crisis provides many familiar elements for today’s readers, and it can be considered an event to be re-visited—especially because it is a catastrophe that has never really ended and continues until now.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Un breve dossier in materia di ricerca, università e repressione politica in Italia.

A short dossier on research, university and political repression in Italy.
Research Interests:
IV Convegno SIAA – Trento 19-21 dicembre 2016 Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Università degli Studi di Trento Workshop “Libertà di ricerca e ruolo dell’ intellettuale oggi”, mercoledì 21 ore 9-13, Aula 20 Coordinatrice:... more
IV Convegno SIAA – Trento 19-21 dicembre 2016
Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Università degli Studi di Trento

Workshop “Libertà di ricerca e ruolo dell’ intellettuale oggi”, mercoledì 21 ore 9-13, Aula 20
Coordinatrice: Sabrina Tosi Cambini (Università di Verona e Università di Firenze)