Objectives

Starting with the IX Legislature, during which the first immigration law (n. 943, 30 December 1986) was approved, we carried out a systemic search of all the legislative production in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, using the following key words: immigrazione, integrazione, immigrati, migranti, straniero, identità, nazionale, seconde generazioni, intercultura, cittadinanza, 2G, figli di immigrati, nuovi italiani. Moreover, we checked the agenda of each day of the considered legislatures, both for the Camera and the Senato. These parliamentary debates present a remarkable record of political discourse that reveals the contrasting visions of the Italian political parties on issues of national identity, migration, and integration. Here below you can find links to the most relevant laws and related parliamentary debates, as well as citizenship bills.

Legislatura X (1987-1992)

Legge Martelli (Legge n. 39, 8 febbraio 1990)

“Conversione in legge, con modificazioni, del decreto-legge 30 dicembre 1989, n. 416, recante norme urgenti in materia di asilo politico, di ingresso e soggiorno dei cittadini extracomunitari e di regolarizzazione dei cittadini extracomunitari ed apolidi già presenti nel territorio dello Stato. Disposizioni in materia di asilo”

Legislatura XII (1994-1996)

Decreto Dini (Legge n. 489, 18 novembre 1995)

“Disposizioni urgenti in materia di politica dell’immigrazione e per la regolamentazione dell’ingresso e soggiorno nel territorio nazionale dei cittadini dei Paesi non appartenenti all’Unione europea”

Citizenship bills discussed in the Parliament

A reform of the present nationality law has been discussed two times in the Parliament, in 2005 and in 2009. In both cases, the discussion did not lead to a final vote. Many other bills have been presented, but they never reached the debate in the Parliament. They can be retrieved here by typing ‘cittadinanza’ in the box ‘cerca per titolo’. During the XVII Legislature, a new bill was passed in 2015 by the Camera and is now pending at the Senato. Related to this discussion, a useful study report was produced by the Servizio Studi of the Camera and is available here.

The collection and analysis of government documentation (1986-2014) mainly focused on three ministries and two ministers:

Ministry of Education, Universities and Research

education has played a traditional role in the nationalization of societies, which justifies a close look at the ways this Ministry has addressed the growing ethno-cultural diversity of the Italian population also via the notion of ‘interculture’.

Ministry of Interior

however problematic, the nexus between immigration and security has become a prominent trope in political and public imagination. To map the production of this Ministry is therefore essential to understand how the legal incorporation of migrants and their children within the national society is regulated. Integration is also a key dimension of this process.

Migrant Integration Portal

Migrants’ Integration Portal is a website established with the purpose of fostering foreign nationals’ integration into the Italian society. The Portal has been on-line since 17th January 2012 (Governo Monti), and was developed through a project co-financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals, under the coordination of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and with the involvement of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education, University and Research. It hosts a special section on ‘Second Generation’.

Ministry of Labour and Social Policies

given the traditional role of migrants as labour force, this Ministry has been at the forefront of regulating the incorporation of migrants into the Italian society. Relevant ministerial norms are published here.

Minister for International Cooperation and Integration – Andrea Riccardi

for the first time in Italian history, integration became the topic of an ad hoc Minister in 2011, during the Monti Government. The Minister’s website is partly still active.

Minister for Integration - Cécile Kyenge

created under the Government Letta in 2013, this minister, despite being short lived, put the ‘new Italians’ at the forefront of the government agenda. Before the Minister website was shut down, we were able to retrieve numerous documentation, available here.

This section contains individual semi-structured interviews which we conducted in person with representatives of political parties responsible for immigration and key political figures associated with past immigration laws. Interviews with prominent civic officers of relevant ministries were also administered, but they are not available on this web page due to anonymity reasons.

Marco Boato (Verdi)

“Considero francamente superato e da superare il termine ‘nazione’, sia per le origini etnicamente diversificate del popolo italiano, sia, e soprattutto ora, per la mutata composizione etnico-linguistica (e anche culturale e religiosa) dell’Italia…” – read more

Rocco Buttiglione (UdC)

“L’ospitalità suppone che ci sia una cultura che è quella del luogo che apre a altre culture che entrano e nell’aprire inevitabilmente detta lei le regole perlomeno nella prima fase” – read more

Erasmo Palazzotto (SEL)

“Io penso che il concetto di nazione oggi vada declinato in maniera del tutto plurale, nel senso che io sono cittadino italiano dentro una cittadinanza europea, e penso che i processi di co-integrazione servano anche a rilanciare e cambiare l’idea stessa di nazione.” – read more

Fabio Rampelli (Fratelli d’Italia)

“Non mi spaventa un’integrazione che faccia sintesi di culture e sensibilità diverse ma questa sintesi può avvenire solo e soltanto se si mantiene in vita una centralità, una profondità, una verticalità dell’identità italiana…”
– read more

Giorgio Sorial (M5S)

“L‘identità nazionale non può essere imposta, l’Italia è l’Italia oggi, perché è l’Italia che rappresenta il popolo italiano e il popolo italiano oggi è fatto di persone come me che hanno origini straniere che hanno genitori stranieri, ma sono italiani” – read more

Achille Totaro (Fratelli d’Italia):

“La cittadinanza italiana è un premio che io do a una persona che viene qui, rispetta certe regole, certi canoni, dimostra di conoscere la lingua italiana…” – read more

Livia Turco (PD)

“Io non credo che noi dobbiamo chiedere agli immigrati di rinunciare a se stessi; quello che dobbiamo chiedere è di partecipare a un tavolo comune e a partire da se stessi, riconoscendo regole e valori del paese ospitante, contribuire ad arricchirli” – read more

Children of migrants, often labelled as ‘second generation’ (2G), have created various associations to voice their claims of national belonging (including the demand for a reform of the nationality law). Many of them are present online and in their forums they also discuss issues related to their daily lives as ‘New Italians’. Some of these associations have also partnered with the Italian government in supporting the Manifesto delle Seconde Generazioni.

Here below you will find a list of the main 2G associations. The content of their websites has been analysed and some of the most active members have been interviewed. A longer list of 2G associations and websites can be found in the Resources.

Rete G2

The most famous ‘second generation’ association, with a very rich website. They also have a Facebook page which mainly focuses on the reform of the nationality law, besides a YouTube channel and a Twitter account.

‘New Italians’ are increasingly active in video-making. Some of these films or short videos explicitly address issues of national belonging and identity. Here below you will find the links to the three films analysed as part of our research. Individual semi-structured interviews were also conducted in person with their film directors. A longer list of relevant films and videos is available in Resources.

GeNEWration, secondi a nessuno (2012)

Directors: Amin Nour, Pietro Tamaro

Short movie produced by Baburka production in 2012. It received an award at the Video Arte del Macro, Rome in 2013. The script revolves around encounters in a small bar located in the popular neighbourhood of Tor Pignattara in Rome. It portrays the new generation of Romans made up of youth with and without foreign background – henceforth the title GeNEWration.

The New Italians (2012)

Director: Sherif Fathy Salem

Produced by SPOT1.TV Film Production for Aljazeera Documentary Channel, the documentary focuses on the so-called ‘second generation’ (2G). Young people of Arab-Muslim culture, born and/or grown up in Italy, talk about their double sense of belonging.

18 Ius Soli: chi nasce in Italia è italiano (2011)

Director: Fred Kuwornu

Directed and produced by Fred Kuwornu, 18 Ius Soli is a documentaristic account of the lifes of some new Italians. At the same time, it aims to foster the legal and cultural debate on the right to citizenship for those who are born in Italy to foreign-born parents.

Hip-hop has traditionally been used by minority groups and cultures as a way to voice their discontent. In the case of Italy, this form of music has been increasingly used by ‘new Italians’ as a way to make themselves visible, challenging stereotypes about their diversity and claiming full citizenship rights. As part of our research, we interviewed some of the most popular Italian rappers with foreign background, whose songs often are driven by political claims around citizenship, identity and belonging. A list of Italian rappers with foreign background is available in Resources.

Amir Issaa

“Più di mezzo milione di persone, che vivono nascoste, stranieri in questa nazione, ci sta Daniel, ci sta Amir c’è Simone, vogliamo i nostri diritti non chiediamo un favore, ci nasci ci cresci la ami la vivi, e a diciotto costretti a fuggire come clandestini…”

Mista Tolu

“Le radici sono in Africa, però son cresciuto qua. Questa sì è la mia nuova vita, ma la gente non lo sa. Non sono straniero, solo solo stra-nero”

Zanko El Arabe Blanco

“Son cresciuto nel quartiere della Centrale-station dove dire immigrato era dire criminale-nation e quando rivelavo che la mia famiglia era tale attention please mi davan del particolare, tu sembri normale, come se la normalità fosse una conquista eccezionale non dipende mai da te dipende dalla classe sociale, dal colore della tua carnagione personale”

Valentino AG

“Ancora fa strano sentirmi il Romano, non è per il colore che non ci capiamo, vuoi capire il mondo in cui viviamo, come te son cresciuto pasta burro e parmigiano”

Mike Samaniego

“Parlo pure col dialetto, sono nato in questo stato e come i vostri figli anche io ho studiato… dopotutto se il cognome suona solo un po’ diverso, l’apparenza a volte inganna come dice un vecchio detto”

Since the 1990s, there has been an increasing production of literature written by migrants and their children. The topics of these novels are multifarious. Yet, for the purpose of our research, we analysed literary texts than more than others address, either directly or indirectly, issues of national identity and belonging. Individual interviews with their authors are available here below. A bibliography on Italophone literature is available on Resources.

Antonio Dikele Distefano

Born in Busto Arsizio to Angolan parents and grown up in Ravenna, Dikele Distefano has reached national fame with the novel Con Fuori piove, dentro pure, passo a prenderti? (2015), a novel which explores how the line of colour can impact on a love story.
Interview

Pap Khouma

Traditionally indicated as the founding father of the Italian migration literature for Io, venditore di elefanti (1990), he wrote about ‘second-generation migrants’ and Black Italians in Noi italiani neri (2010).
Interview

Kossi Komla-Ebri

With Imbarazzismi (2002) and Nuovi imbarazzismi (2004), Kossi Komla-Ebri has explored daily racism in Italy through its most ‘embarassing’ aspects.
Interview

Gabriella Kuruvilla

Gabriella Kuruvilla, writer and painter, maps cities and territories, as in Milano, fin qui tutto bene (2012) and in various anthologies of short stories.
Interview

Amara Lakhous

Born in Algiers and in Italy since 1995, Lakhous writes about the conflicts and the attempts at multicultural integration in contemporary Italian society, elaborating on the rich Italian cinematographic tradition of the “commedia all’italiana”.
Interview

Tahar Lamri

I sessanta nomi dell’amore (2006), by the Algerian-born, Italophone author Tahar Lamri, goes to the heart of the processes and conflicts of the so-called “intercultural encounter”.
Interview

Ingy Mubiayi

Born to an Egyptian father and a Zairian mother, Ingy Mubiayi is the author of the short stories included in the anthologies Pecore nere (2005) and Amori bicolori (2008)
Interview

Igiaba Scego

Born and grown up in Rome, Scego is maybe the most known Afro-Italian author. In her numerous writings, she explores identity issues from multiple perspectives, with a particular attention to (post)colonial Italy.
Interview

Nima Sharmahd

In her book Un’italiana non italiana (2011), the author, born in Florence to parents of Iranian origin, describes the difficulties and the paradoxes of foreigners and “second-generation migrants” in their encounter with the Italian bureaucracy.
Interview

Laila Waidia

From India to Trieste, Laila Wadia qualifies herself as a “storyteller”, through her short stories, novels, poems, newspaper articles and screenplays.
Interview

This section explores the views of the majority society, namely Italians without foreign background, regarding Italy’s demographic transformation, the politico-institutional responses put in place to deal with this transformation and the demand of inclusion voiced by the ‘new Italians’. Given the importance of the school as a primary site for the nationalization of societies and the fact that the school offers a space where the majority society meets the ‘new Italians’ in the everyday life, the research focused on the opinions of students and their teachers. To this end, six high schools were selected in various areas of Milan: