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New Italians

The Re-Making of the Nation in the Age of Migration

Aim

In the present ‘age of migration’, how is the nation re-imagined given the increasing ethno-cultural, religious, and racial diversity of its populace?

Due to international migration, national societies in Europe are deemed to become increasingly more diverse in ethno-cultural, religious, and racial terms. By focusing on the so-called ‘New Italians’ – people with a foreign background who identify themselves as ‘Italians’, whether they have Italian citizenship or not – the present research aims to understand how this demographic change impacts on the re-production of the idea of the nation.

The research aim is articulated around three main objectives:

1) How do governmental and political actors respond to the growing heterogeneity of their national societies?

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2) What kind of nation do migrants and their children envision?

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3) How does the majority society respond to the demographic change?

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An additional section, “Abbiamo fatto l’Italia…”, explores views of young peoples, with and without foreign background, through videos and visual presentations.