Understanding immigrants’ integration in Italy: the role of second generations in building territorial and translocal social capital

Immigration is a central issue in the European and also in the Italian political debate, that recently emphasizes the problems linked to emergencies in the reception of migrants, to crime and insecurity supposedly attributed to foreigners, to the difficult cohabitation between new inhabitants and old residents. Nonetheless, the importance given to analyzing the phenomenon more carefully and to promoting the fruitful integration of migrants is clearly insufficient. The present work aims at providing a contribution in this broad area through a better understanding of the dynamics of second generation’s immigrants to the strengthening of the territorial social capital and to the improvement of the interconnections between foreign and indigenous communities. More specifically, starting from the definition of territorial social capital and its link with migration studies, this paper will focus on areas where “second generations” are likely to influence the dynamics of social and territorial integration: intergenerational relations, language practice, inclusion processes at school and work, intercultural activities and contamination spaces, participation in associations and social life, cultural interaction and multiple spatial belongings. The paper also includes, from an empirical point of view, an extensive survey carried out in Italy, through the use of semi-structured questionnaires distribued to second generations with a migration background. The analytical proposal, based on comparative method, aims to investigate not only the territorial and extra-territorial relations, but also the spheres of behaviors, narratives, perceptions concerning the sense of belonging, the processes of integration, the signs of social and spatial marginalization.