Papers by Maurizio Artero
Sinappsi, 2024
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VOLUNTAS, 2024
Italy was the first Western country to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within it, ... more Italy was the first Western country to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within it, immigrants have played an important role as essential workers and throughout solidarity initiatives. The present article is based on 64 in-depth interviews with immigrants who engaged in solidarity actions directed toward the immigrant population and the host society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analytically, it emerged that through solidaristic initiatives, immigrants articulated what we called 'claims of recognition.' Recognition here is considered in both its individual form, as interpersonal acceptance and esteem for single immigrants, and its collective form, as the social regard of immigrant groups as constituents of Italian society. Despite being perhaps 'elementary,' these claims aim to fight forms of both non-recognition and misrecognition that are pervasive in Italy and aim to transform the symbolic 'fabric' of this country.
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PARTECIPO QUINDI DONO L'impegno solidale delle persone di origine immigrata oltre la pandemia, 2023
A partire dal 2020, il diffondersi del virus Covid-19 ha avuto gravi ripercussioni a livello glob... more A partire dal 2020, il diffondersi del virus Covid-19 ha avuto gravi ripercussioni a livello globale. L'Italia, prima e più di altri paesi, è stata interessata da questo fenomeno, che ha messo in luce alcune questioni critiche dell’organizzazione sociale del paese. Tra le questioni che la crisi pandemica causata dal Covid-19 ha sollevato in Italia, c'è l'effetto negativo sulle condizioni della popolazione più marginale, tra cui rientrano molti immigrati. In particolare, per quanto riguarda questi ultimi, fin da subito le persone con tratti somatici che rivelavano un’origine straniera, e specialmente le persone di origine cinese o asiatica, sono state stigmatizzate come presunta causa del diffondersi del virus (Ambrosini 2020); le restrizioni alla mobilità internazionale hanno impedito ai migranti di viaggiare verso i Paesi di provenienza e ai richiedenti asilo di sbarcare sulle coste italiane (ibid.); le disposizioni per il contenimento del contagio sul territorio italiano, ed in particolare le chiusure imposte a tutte le attività dallo Stato, hanno reso difficile accedere a importanti servizi, come il rinnovo dei documenti, mentre l'accesso all'assistenza sanitaria, in un momento particolarmente critico, risultava complicato, specialmente per gli immigrati con uno status precario o irregolare (Bonizzoni, Artero e Hajer 2021). Come evidenziato dai dati, infine, gli effetti della crisi economica provocata dalla pandemia si sono scaricati specialmente sui lavoratori stranieri. Questi, ed in particolare la componente femminile, hanno subito una maggiore perdita dell'occupazione e goduto di minori tutele economiche da parte dello Stato, soprattutto a causa della natura temporanea o informale di molti dei loro contratti di lavoro (Quaranta, Trentini e Villosio 2021). Il risultato è che la popolazione ‘straniera’ ha affrontato la pandemia in condizioni economiche difficili: oltre un milione e mezzo di immigrati si trovavano in condizione di povertà nel 2020, il 29% del totale contro il 7,5% dei cittadini italiani (Istat 2021). A partire dal contesto qui richiamato, in questo capitolo si cercherà di illustrare lo sviluppo di azioni solidali da parte da parte di persone e gruppi di origine immigrata, durante e al di fuori di quella che può essere definita ‘crisi pandemica’. Come si sottolineerà nella prima parte di questo capitolo, la pandemia ha condizionato le persone straniere e, conseguentemente, anche le organizzazioni 'immigrate', rappresentando per esse, però, non solo un ostacolo ma anche un’opportunità. Infatti, da una parte, la pandemia ha costretto a sospendere molte attività delle organizzazioni, limitato la possibilità di riunione, e influito anche sulle capacità economiche dei singoli partecipanti e delle associazioni. D'altra parte, la pandemia ha fatto emergere delle necessità a cui associazioni immigrate e singole persone di origine straniera hanno prontamente dato risposta, in uno slancio che ha rinvigorito l''attivismo' della società civile, compresa quella 'immigrata'. In particolare, se una parte considerevole degli sforzi si sono rivolti all'aiuto di connazionali e stranieri nei paesi d'origine e in Italia, si è assistito anche all'impegno di associazioni e singoli a favore della società e delle istituzioni italiane: il prodursi di attività di aiuto ai più bisognosi, senza distinzioni di nazionalità; le raccolte di denaro e beni a favore di istituzioni ed enti nazionali; l'impegno di persone di origine straniera in associazioni nazionali. Mentre la prima parte si concentra così sull’aiuto offerto da singoli e gruppi durante la pandemia, successivamente il capitolo rivolge l’attenzione a importanti significati che questi aiuti rappresentano, non solo nel contesto pandemico. Da questo punto di vista, prima di tutto le forme di aiuto dei migranti sono espressioni di una cittadinanza dal basso; come cittadinanza attiva, cioè impegno per un bene comune alla cui base si riscontra un senso di responsabilità che travalica la dicotomia tra cittadini e non-cittadini, a cui si aggiungono iniziative, che rivendicando diritti, riconoscimento e cambiamento sociale, rivelano il carattere più militante della 'cittadinanza dal basso' dei partecipanti. Le azioni degli intervistati hanno, inoltre, il significato del dono, innanzitutto quello quantificabile delle distribuzioni di denaro e beni che si dispiegano non solo in Italia ma verso i Paesi d’origine tramite rimesse collettive, ma anche di dono di sé, del proprio tempo ed energie. Si tratta in ogni caso di esempi di un dono post-moderno che non richiede il sacrificio del proprio benessere ma si connette con alcuni ‘benefici’ che il dono è in grado di offrire a chi dona: benessere psicologico, socialità, integrazione, crescita personale e riconoscimento sociale. Infine, saranno considerate le difficoltà che associazioni e persone incontrano nell’agire solidale, con singoli partecipanti di origine immigrata che lamentano i pregiudizi incontrati collaborando con persone italiane, e le organizzazioni che accusano di scarsa considerazione le istituzioni pubbliche nazionali e locali. Punti di vista che gettano luce su quanto le persone di origine immigrata impegnate in varie forme di solidarietà attiva ambiscano al riconoscimento del valore delle loro attività e ad un ruolo da pari nell’ambito della società civile italiana.
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Journal of Immigrat & Refugee Studies, 2023
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led the Italian government to enact a
regularization programme, t... more In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led the Italian government to enact a
regularization programme, the first in eight years, which also allowed asylum
seekers to switch from a humanitarian to an employment-based status.
This study sheds light on how this re-categorization opportunity was concretely
experienced by (potential) applicants by examining 21 in-depth
interviews with key stakeholders and Salvadorean asylum seekers. Drawing
on emerging literature on uncertainty and temporality, we argue that the
institutional uncertainty characterizing the programme compromised
Salvadorian asylum seekers’ ability to act strategically toward the attainment
of a less precarious status.
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Citizenship Studies, 2022
Immigrant volunteering is usually absent from the debate on the
reconfiguration of citizenship ‘... more Immigrant volunteering is usually absent from the debate on the
reconfiguration of citizenship ‘from below’. Indeed, it has been
generally considered a conservative force, if anything, an instrument
of fuller integration. Building on 25 interviews with young
migrant volunteers, this paper aims to fill this gap. It shows that,
even if immigrant volunteering may reinforce some conventional
categorizations, it achieves the primary result of showing that
people with an immigrant background deserve to be fully recognized
as citizens. Moreover, voluntary work appears to shape how
young immigrants perceive both their belonging and citizenship in
a way that defies restrictive politics of belonging and traditional
conceptions of citizenship.
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Partecipazione e Conflitto, 2022
Pro-migrant volunteering is often denounced as apolitical and patronising. Voluntary initiatives ... more Pro-migrant volunteering is often denounced as apolitical and patronising. Voluntary initiatives for immigrants' language education, then, have been accused of facilitating the neoliberal governmentality of migration, by fashioning migrants into precarious workers. Based on 20 in-depth interviews with volunteer language teachers in Lombardy, Italy, this article complicates such understandings, by shedding light on the tensions and ambiguities characterising volunteers' activities vis-à-vis the institutional governance of migration. Indeed, whereas such initiatives take on integration tasks for the benefit of the State, and thus can be accused of allying with the State in the governmentality of migration, against a background of growing nationalism, volunteering appears to develop people's empathy and solidarity beyond national belonging, questioning the division between citizens and non-citizens. In particular, it shows that volunteering in language education has the potential to transgress consolidated lines of inclusion and exclusion, turn volunteers from 'active citizens' into 'activist citizens', and offer resources of substantive citizenship to students. Ultimately, these 'humanitarian' actions by citizens belonging to the dominant society may represent acts of citizenship complementary to the initiatives of 'denizens'.
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Il 13 maggio 2020, l'allora Ministra dell'Agricoltura Teresa Bellanova, nel corso della c... more Il 13 maggio 2020, l'allora Ministra dell'Agricoltura Teresa Bellanova, nel corso della conferenza stampa volta ad illustrare i contenuti del cosiddetto "Decreto Rilancio", annunciava un provvedimento di regolarizzazione rivolto ai lavoratori stranieri, il primo da otto anni. La sanatoria era una misura fortemente attesa, tanto dai cittadini/e stranieri/e, che dai datori e dalle datrici di lavoro, così come dalle organizzazioni della società civile impegnate nel campo dei diritti dei migranti. Già dalle prime letture sono però emersi numerosi rilievi critici sulla prevista efficacia del provvedimento con riferimento alle finalità dichiarate, che oggi si ripropongono con rinnovata urgenza.
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VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations
Immigrant volunteering is a disputed topic. For some scholars, an important instrument for the so... more Immigrant volunteering is a disputed topic. For some scholars, an important instrument for the social integration of immigrants, while others frame immigrant volunteerism as a regime of 'ethical citizenship' centred around the paradigms of 'civic integration' and 'deservingness'. Our research collected the experiences of hundreds of migrant volunteers in Italy (658 questionnaires plus 89 in-depth interviews) to address three research questions in particular: immigrant volunteers' levels of social inclusion, their reasons for volunteering, and the links between volunteering and other forms of social and political participation. Our findings show that volunteering is more dependent on social integration than on social marginality, represents a way to achieve a higher level of social integration, and can be framed as a way to perform active citizenship and anti-xenophobic claims. In particular, volunteering allows immigrant to present themselves as active su...
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UNA SANATORIA TANTO (DIS)ATTESA? il programma di “emersione” 2020 tra ostacoli e (mancate) opportunità, 2021
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Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
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Sociological Inquiry
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Domestic Care Work: Problems and Requests Emerging from the ‘Triangle of Care, 2020
In Italy, like in many post-industrial societies, eldercare has gone through a profound transform... more In Italy, like in many post-industrial societies, eldercare has gone through a profound transformation. Today, the elderly are increasingly assisted in their homes by external workers, who often hail from abroad. Many scholars tend to see this eldercare arrangement, also named ‘migrant-in-the-family model’, as intrinsically inegalitarian. Within this context, we look at three intertwining questions: the disposition toward alternative forms of eldercare; the main issues emerging within the ‘migrant-in-the-family’ model; and the possibility of revising the eldercare model. To address these questions, we built on an archive of in-depth interviews within the so-called ‘triangle of care’ – care managers, the elderly care recipients, and migrant domestic eldercare workers. Our findings reveal that the elderly home care, via the ‘migrant-in-the-family’ model, still remains the preferred approach to providing long-term care in Italy. Though bedevilled with problems, domestic eldercare represents a strategic choice for Italian families as well as migrant workers. Based on the findings emerging from the study, we proffer four practical policy recommendations to improve the model in the future: better and easier financial assistance; increasing the role of the welfare state; introducing holistic help-desks; and reviewing policies on qualification and its valorization
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Sparks of hope in Milan: volunteers in a drop-in, and the reception and integration of migrants, 2018
From A VIEW FROM THE EDGE DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB
NEWSLETTER | Issue 42
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Book Reviews by Maurizio Artero
Urban crisis, urban hope: a policy agenda for UK cities, 2021
As its title suggests, Urban Crisis, Urban Hope: A Policy Agenda for UK Cities makes no secret of... more As its title suggests, Urban Crisis, Urban Hope: A Policy Agenda for UK Cities makes no secret of its desire to offer practical steps for a better urban future. This work collects a series of essays, from 23 contributors mainly academic researchers, practitioners and community leaders. The contributors work with ideas for attaining positive change for cities set against the grim backdrop of the contemporary ‘urban crisis’.
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Conference Presentations by Maurizio Artero
Escapes2018_Confini interni e ostacoli amministrativi, 2018
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TMC2017_Discussing Milan as a Sanctuary city, 2017
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TMC_Discussing Milan as a sanctuary city (8/2017), 2017
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Papers by Maurizio Artero
regularization programme, the first in eight years, which also allowed asylum
seekers to switch from a humanitarian to an employment-based status.
This study sheds light on how this re-categorization opportunity was concretely
experienced by (potential) applicants by examining 21 in-depth
interviews with key stakeholders and Salvadorean asylum seekers. Drawing
on emerging literature on uncertainty and temporality, we argue that the
institutional uncertainty characterizing the programme compromised
Salvadorian asylum seekers’ ability to act strategically toward the attainment
of a less precarious status.
reconfiguration of citizenship ‘from below’. Indeed, it has been
generally considered a conservative force, if anything, an instrument
of fuller integration. Building on 25 interviews with young
migrant volunteers, this paper aims to fill this gap. It shows that,
even if immigrant volunteering may reinforce some conventional
categorizations, it achieves the primary result of showing that
people with an immigrant background deserve to be fully recognized
as citizens. Moreover, voluntary work appears to shape how
young immigrants perceive both their belonging and citizenship in
a way that defies restrictive politics of belonging and traditional
conceptions of citizenship.
Book Reviews by Maurizio Artero
Conference Presentations by Maurizio Artero
regularization programme, the first in eight years, which also allowed asylum
seekers to switch from a humanitarian to an employment-based status.
This study sheds light on how this re-categorization opportunity was concretely
experienced by (potential) applicants by examining 21 in-depth
interviews with key stakeholders and Salvadorean asylum seekers. Drawing
on emerging literature on uncertainty and temporality, we argue that the
institutional uncertainty characterizing the programme compromised
Salvadorian asylum seekers’ ability to act strategically toward the attainment
of a less precarious status.
reconfiguration of citizenship ‘from below’. Indeed, it has been
generally considered a conservative force, if anything, an instrument
of fuller integration. Building on 25 interviews with young
migrant volunteers, this paper aims to fill this gap. It shows that,
even if immigrant volunteering may reinforce some conventional
categorizations, it achieves the primary result of showing that
people with an immigrant background deserve to be fully recognized
as citizens. Moreover, voluntary work appears to shape how
young immigrants perceive both their belonging and citizenship in
a way that defies restrictive politics of belonging and traditional
conceptions of citizenship.
the favourable position of care workers vis-à-vis the selectivity of immigration governance. Moreover, it discusses the relations established by Italian families with immigrant care workers, in comparison with what the scholarship says about the relationships between immigrant care workers and native families.
For this purpose, we propose a typology of domestic elder care relationships, arranging them along a continuum where at one extreme they are asymmetrical and exploitative, whilst at the other they are warm and reciprocal. Finally, we observe a process of “familization” whereby employers and care workers begin to see each other as members of the same “family”. Whilst familialization can be interpreted as genuine affection, it also creates a web of obligations that prioritizes expectations by employers and duties of care workers.
two Italian cities, Rome and Milan, considering religion as a point of reference in light
of its pivotal role in terms of identity references for many migrants. The article focuses
in particular on Muslim migrants—due to both the magnitude of their presence and
complex issues related to their settlement in Italian cities. The analysis shows a low
level of intraurban residential segregation of Muslim migrants in both cities, with some
relevant differences related to national subgroups (e.g., a higher concentration for people
coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan), so that religion seems not yet to be a main driver
of residential choice for Muslim migrants. In light of both the low level of segregation
of Muslim migrants and some features of Italian urban policies on migration and
religion, we argue that residential concentration can currently play a beneficial role in
terms of the insertion of migrants in Italian cities and fulfillment of some of their needs
(e.g., availability of minority places of worship).