Ironies of Citizenship in Contemporary Italy

Robert Garot, John Jay College

In a world marked by increasing migration and globalization, the political and social rights of citizenship may not always be delivered along with the official documents. This is certainly the case in contemporary Italy, where citizenship is becoming ever more difficult to obtain, and everyday practices of racialization continue to exclude those who have struggled for years to integrate into Italian society. Sociologist Robert Garot’s presentation examines contemporary cases that reveal how an immigrant’s documentation is often not a good indication of integration, and how immigrants integrate into society without proper documentation. Some illegal immigrants who possess social and cultural capital are able to integrate with relative ease, while others are caught in seemingly insurmountable social exclusion.