Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

1877–0428 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.357

Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

WCES 2011

Intercultural education and construction of living together in a plural society: the results of an empiric research

Rina Manuela Continia *, Antonio Maturoa

aDepartment of Social Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, via dei Vestini, 31, 66100, Chieti, Italy

Abstract

This study is aimed at developing the theme of building living together relations in a multiethnic and multicultural society and of the contribution of intercultural education to promote social cohesion. Such themes are dealt with through the analysis of the scholastic experience of autochthonous and foreign preadolescents, particularly through the study of the scholastic dimension as a place where to form intercultural relations and where images of the world concerning the formation of citizenship and living together in a plural society are learnt. The study develops the results of a previous research carried out on a small sample (266 Italian students and 117 non Italian students). The results of the questionnaires administered to a larger and articulated sample are indeed analyzed (1314 students: 881 Italians, 317 immigrants and 116 children of mixed couples). © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Plural Society; Intercultural Education; Plural Citizenship; Inter-ethnic Living Together.

1. The issue of living together in a plural society

Globalisation processes and International migrations transform contemporary societies and strengthen their multi-cultural and multi-ethnic character (Bauman, 1998; Sassen, 2007; Castles, 2009; Ambrosini, Berti, 2009).

The multi-ethnic aspect of global society sets issues related to the: relationship between global culture/local culture; links between globalization and ethnization of conflicts among cultures; the identification of differences and the development of social belonging and integration; the inter-ethnic living together (Featherstone, 1998; Geertz, 1999; Kristeva, 1990; Besozzi, 1999; Giddens,1994; Simmel, 1983).

In the sociological-scientific debate on the issues set by the growth of the multi-ethnic character of contemporary societies and on ways of to answering the problem of inter-ethnic living together many theories have been developed: assimilation theories; multi-cultural thesis; neo-assimilationist theories; segmented assimilation theory.

The assimilationist paradigm derives from the Universalist epistemological perspective and it considers assimilation as an organic, univocal, linear and inevitable process. The immigrants are assimilated to the social context and they adopt mental habits and lifestyles of the natives. Park and Burgess (1924) consider assimilation as a process of inter-penetration and fusion in which people and groups acquire memories, feelings and attitudes of other people and groups and, by sharing their experiences, they are incorporated with them in a common cultural life. In such a vision, the cultural assimilation is the assumption for social mobility. From this derives that assimilation is not only inevitable, but also hoped for: only if immigrants are assimilated and lose the cultural traits and the social habits of the country of origin they can be accepted, and progress in social mobility.

The Universalist perspective is at the basis of political assimilationist models of managing inter-ethnic living together, like the French and American one.

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

3684 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

Regarding this it is stated precisely that in the current sociologic debate it is underlined how it is always more difficult to trace the legislation concerning immigration policies to unitary and coherent national models and how a tendency to developing a mixture of social policies are inspired by opposite orientation policies have been outlined (Body-Gendrot, 1995). Countries with a Universalist inspiration, like France, have begun to adopt measures in line with multiculturalism marked by a major identification of cultural differences, while countries like Great Britain and Holland that traditionally have always recognised and optimized the differences, are developing a major sensibility towards respecting universal principles in order to promote a major social cohesion.

The assimilationist perspective has the merit of encouraging the development of the idea of common belonging of all the individuals of the human kind. However theoreticians of multiculturalism criticize ethnocentric assumptions and regulative implications of assimilationism and place the attention on the irreducibility of cultural diversity. According to the differentialist approach the different aspects of culture take on specific characters among every population. In the perspective of recognising and exploiting differences it is outlined that there is a distrust towards the concept of integration and the inclination to use concepts like “inclusion”, “incorporation” and “interaction”, that do not show legislative implications and shift the focus on the openness of the receiving society. In the current debate limits are perceived in the multicultural visions that consist on the risk of stiffening and neutralizing the differences, and to pigeon-hole people within established ethnical and cultural borders (Benhabib, 2005). It has also been assigned to the multiculturalist standpoint the limit of relativism so therefore, for the sake of recognising cultural diversity; the challenge of defending universal rights can be neglected.

In recent years, particularly in northern American literature, neo-assimilationist approaches have been reconsidered. These approaches forget the legislative and ethnocentric components of a traditional assimilationist concept, but reassert that assimilation can be carried out at an intergenerational level (Alba, Nee, 1997). Brubacker (2001) redefines the concept of “assimilation” purifying it from the prescriptive components and from assumptions of superiority of American culture compared to the one of the immigrants.

Portes and Rumbaut distance themselves from bumby-line assimilation theories presented by Alba and Nee (1997) and from the assimilation paradigm as a linear process reintroduced by Perlman and Waldinger (1997) and suggest the segmented theory of assimilation. The two scholars make a problem of linearity of the relationship between socioeconomic integration and cultural assimilation and focus on socioeconomic conditions within which integration is carried out (Portes, Rumbaut, 2001). The process of integration of young immigrants is fragmented into paths that can be of ascending mobility, such as the upward assimilation and the selective assimilation - through which they enter the American society mainstream -, or of descending mobility, that is to say downward assimilation.Such methods of assimilation depend on previous factors related to the family- social, economic and cultural capital- and on the welcoming social context (Zhou, 1997; Esser, 2004; Portes, 2004; Portes, Rumbaut, 2005).

In the sociological scientific debate, on the issues set by the growth of the multi-ethnic character of contemporary societies and on the ways to answer the problem of inter-ethnic living together many theories have been developed: assimilation theories; multi-cultural thesis; neo-assimilationist theories; segmented assimilation theory.

According to the debate on integration processes and on the problem of interethnic living together, great importance is placed on the perspective of interculturalism. Interculturalism can overcome the limits of assimilationism and differentialism maintaining at the same time the good qualities, suggesting the identification of differences within a common horizon, whose system is negotiated and defined in trial terms in order to make it universal and the most inclusive of the different applications that it carries (Cesareo, 2004; Fondazione Ismu, 2008).

An important element of today’s analysis is to go beyond binary categories, characterized by the extreme closeness to different cultures. This is particularly true for “new generations” that grow up in a multiethnic context that increasingly show mixed cultural traits - produced from mixing the language and the culture of the country of origin with the culture of the country of immigration - and plural identities (Coleman, 1968; Rubén, Rumbaut, 2006). Traditionally, the sociologists of migrations are classified into two currents - assimilationism and pluralism- considered as opposites. Gangs (2009) highlights that, any kind of polarization affects the research and is not functional to the comprehension of migration phenomena. In the same direction are the considerations made by Ambrosini (2008; Ambrosini, Abbatecola, 2009), which underlines the importance to mistrust the rigid contraposition between the approaches and to become sensitive to the interrelations and complexity of migration phenomena.

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3685

The intercultural model is different from the multiculturalist one because the distinctive element is the dialogue among different cultures and their reciprocal openness. While multiculturalism focuses on “cultural differences”, interculturalism focuses on the relations among the different cultures.

Differently from the model of a multiculturalist society, that presents within itself many single cultures that maintain themselves distinct and separate, the model of an interculturalist society is qualified for a plurality of exchanges among different cultures. In such a perspective the latter are summoned to share and to consider special a nucleus of inalienable values that are the same for all human beings, like freedom, human dignity and respect for life (Cesareo, 2008).

Since the methods of integration have as protagonists more often family nucleus and “the born from immigration”, it is necessary to develop, promote and build a culture of sustainable immigration based on interculturality, also considering the difficulties and opposition that this proposal implies and of the challenges it sets.

In the ambit of the intercultural model, integration can be defined as a multidimensional process aimed at the pacific living together within a determined social reality among individuals and groups culturally and ethnically different, based on the respect of diversity with the condition that these do not harm the fundamental human rights and democratic institutions (Cesareo, 2004; Ambrosini, 2007).

Interculturalism represents also the direction towards which Europe is moving, that proclaimed 2008 “European year for cross-cultural dialogue” (Decision n. 1983/2006/EC), with the intent to promote a deep dialogue between cultures that gives the necessary competences to develop a European citizenship open to the world, and respectful of the cultural and based on European common values (Commission of the European Communities, 2008; Council of Europe, 2008; Commissione Europea 2010a; 2010b).

2. School and Intercultural education

School is a key institution for the promotion of living together and the creation of citizenship (Ambrosini, 2008). Social cohesion can be promoted if in the educational process the conditions for the development of intercultural competences are created. Migrations can be a resource on a cultural and educational level if integrated in a process of intercultural exchange. Intercultural dialogue contributes to cohesion and to inclusion and it is also an instrument of mediation and reconciliation, since it takes part in mediation and social instability. Intercultural dialogue is a process that is translated into an open and respectful exchange of standpoints among individuals, groups and organizations with different cultural perspectives and visions of the world (European Council, 2008).

Interculturalism is part of the orientation of the Italian scholastic regulation (C.M. 73/1994; MPI, 2007) and represents the direction which Europe is moving towards (Nesse Network, 2008; Ericarts, 2008). Relations experienced in school are a laboratory of acquisition and intercultural competences that can contribute significantly to cohesion in culturally heterogeneous societies. Intercultural education is aimed at promoting the ability of knowing and respecting cultural diversity jointly with the research of social cohesion, in a new vision of citizenship suitable for current pluralism in which most of the attention is focused on building a convergence towards common values. The idea of citizenship starts to be reanalyzed with the objective of combining universal values and individual rights (Giovannini, 2008).

Intercultural education must be inclined at developing a relational dimension - that can be carried out through contact, cooperation and sharing of experiences- and a cognitive one (MPI, 2007). The cognitive dimension is aimed at showing the variety of standpoints, at promoting the ability of decentralization and at favouring the exchange between cultures. The relativization of criteria and concepts, indispensable base of the critic thought, does not lead to radical relativism, but to the research of a common framework of reference for values, regulations and rights and to promote respect of diversity of standpoints (MPI, 2007).

In such a vision, an important resource is given by scholastic subjects that can be an occasion to formintercultural competences (C.M. 73/1994; MPI, 2007). For example, as for history teaching it is appropriate to overcome ethnocentric approaches, dealing with the theme of racism and issues of a pacific living together among people and analyzing the moments of meeting and collision among people and civilization. Teaching Italian, artistic and musical education gives an occasion to reflect upon the relations between European and extra-European cultures. Geography allows openness from the local context to a national and worldwide one. Multi-religiousness can become an educational resource for an intercultural school, because it is a direct and concrete opportunity to understand

3686 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

4

practises and symbols of other religions. Interreligious dialogue can promote the development of attitudes like respect and reciprocity in the exploration of the self (Mentasti, Ottaviano, 2008; Besozzi, 2008).

As for civic education it is possible to show the principles of the Constitution, the universal declaration of human rights and International institutions. Cultural, religious and linguistic diversity can contribute significantly to the intercultural dialogue.

3. The results of an empiric research

3.1 The empiric research

The theme of the school as a place where to learn images of the world concerning the creation of citizenship and living together in a plural society has been examined in the ambit of an empiric research carried out - through the administration of a questionnaire - in first degree secondary schools in Abruzzo (Italy).

The research is a development of a previous study carried out on a small sample of 443 students (266 Italians and 117 non Italians) attending the third year in the schools of the Province of Teramo (Martinsicuro, Alba Adriatica, Tortoreto, Campli, San Nicolò a Tordino, Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata). The analysis of the data has shown a complex framework that requires a more articulated research.

Therefore, in the new study we considered: - a larger sample; - a higher number of variables that can influence the process of integration.

3.1.1 The Sample

As regards the sample, 1314 preadolescents have been interviewed, of these 881 are Italians (corresponding to 67% of the sample), 317 are non Italian citizens (equal to 24,1% of the sample), 116 are children of mixed couples (equal to 8,8% of the sample) (Figure 1).

The questionnaires were administered to students of second and third year of middle schools situated on the territory of Teramo and Pescara. The students attending schools located in the province of Teramo were mainly 865 - that is to say 65,8% of the sample - (of which 563 Italians, 227 non Italians and 75 with a parent with a non Italian origin); the ones attending schools situated in the province of Pescara were 449 - equal to 34,2% of the sample - (of these 318 Italians, 90 non Italians and 41 with a parent with a non Italian origin).

As for the division of the group according to gender, the preadolescents interviewed are divided substantially uniformly among boys and girls. The boys are 51,3% of the students (668 units, of these 450 are Italians, 165 non Italians and 53 with a non Italian parent), the girls are 48,7% of the interviewed (633 units, of these 421 are Italian, 149 non Italian and 63 with a non Italian parent). The percentage of boys are slightly higher than the girls in the case of Italians and of foreigners, while in the case of students with a non Italian parent the amount of girls (54,3%) is higher than the boys of almost nine percentage points (45,7%) (Figure 2).

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3687

5

Citizenship

881; 67%

317; 24%

116; 9%

It alian

Non it alian

Children of mixedcouples

Ge nde r

668; 51%633; 49%Male

Female

Figure 1 Figure 2

The research showed also the parents’ education degree, with a reference to the highest education title that the mother or father have obtained. In the sample, 18,4% of the preadolescents interviewed declared to have at least one parent with a university degree, 40,9% has at least a parent with a high school degree, 26,3% has parents that have attended compulsory school or no school, 14,4% does not know or does not answer. If citizenship is considered, the number of parents with a university degree are divided in a similar way between Italians and foreigners (17,9% among the Italians and 18,6% among the foreigners), while the number of Italians that declared that one of their parents has at least a high school degree is substantially high compared to foreigners (44,6% among the Italians and 28,7% among the foreigners). The students with a non Italian parent are he ones that have parents with a higher education degree both of foreigners and Italians: 21,6% declared to have at least a parent with a university degree, 46,6% with a high school degree and 20,7% with compulsory school or no school degree (compared to 28,7% among foreigners and 26,1% among the Italians). The higher percentages of “do not know” or of missing answers are registered among the foreigners: 24%, compared to about 11% among the other two subgroups.

To make the comparison easier between the different groups differentiated on the basis of provenience, the answers based on the nation of origin have been decoded according to the macro area. About half of the foreign students interviewed - 51%, compared to 156 units - come from Eastern European countries (among the eastern Europeans the main nationality is the Albanian one), 11,8% comes from African countries - corresponding to 36 units, 20,9% from Asian countries - corresponding to 64 units - (almost the whole of the Asians come from China) and 16,3% from different countries grouped under the voice other - corresponding to 50 units (Figure 3).

The scientific literature underlines the importance of the age of immigration for scholastic success and, in general, for the integration process of foreign children (Rumbaut, 1997; Ambrosini, Molina, 2004; Barbagli, 2006). Considering this the age of immigration has been detected. While analysing the data these have been divided into preadolescents born in Italy or that arrived before the age of six (116 units, equal to 39,3% of the foreigners interviewed), that likely started their cycle of studies in Italy - as is foreseen by the Italian scholastic regulation -, and those who arrived in Italy from the age of seven upwards (179 units, corresponding to 60,7%). The majority of the sample, therefore, was born abroad and arrived in our country from the age of seven upwards (Figure 4).

3688 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

Areas of provenience

156; 51%

36; 12%

64; 21%

50; 16%

Eastern Europe

Af r ica

Asia

Other

Age of migration

116; 39%

179; 61%

under six years of age

over seven years ofage

Figure 3 Figure 4

Considering the percentages relative to the period of time spent for groups of foreigners divided in to macro areas, we observe how the group of Asians is the one that shows a higher number of students that arrived in Italy from the age of seven upwards (74,6%), followed by the group of the eastern Europeans (66,4%); while the group of preadolescents coming from African countries is the one that shows the higher percentages of preadolescents born in our country or arrived before the age of six. So, whenever the data are presented not aggregate for macro area, it is necessary to consider the percentage relative to the time spent for each group.

3.1.2 The objectives of the research

The general objective of the research was to study the scholastic experience of the new generations in a changing school that is characterized in a growing measure by a plural living together and an intercultural model. As reminded by Simmel, the presence of foreigners within a society represents an important agent of social change and, in this case, society and school in which new generations live and grow up are innovative compared to the past. Therefore, studying the new generation highlights the orientation within our society considering current and future integration, social cohesion and the formation of tomorrow’s citizens.

As for the goals of the research not only citizenship has been considered - Italians, foreigners, children of mixed couples -, but also the gender, the characteristics of the family (education title of the parents, professional condition of the parents, family help when doing homework); as for the foreigners, the age of migration and the macro area of provenience have been taken into consideration.

As for gender, research shows how during preadolescence and adolescence the differences in gender are significant on some behaviour, on the attitude towards studying, on scholastic performance and relations with peers (Besozzi, 2003). Girls have better scholastic results and are more inclined at furthering their education. Besides, literature suggests that boys and girls are addressers of educational messages differentiated within the family considering the country of provenience (Barbagli, 2006). The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of gender on scholastic success, on intercultural relations and on multiple belonging developments.

As concerns the family characteristics - external and internal social capital, cultural and economic capital - the Italian and international reference literature highlights how such factors are able to condition significantly, also in the case of immigrant families, the attitudes, the behaviour, and the paths of life of young people who are born and grow up within it, above all as regards scholastic success, social and work relations (Coleman, 1988; 2005; Bourdieu, 1980; Portes, Sensenbrenner, 2009). Family is an existential ambit for children, in the measure in which it does not only give an economic support necessary to their growth, but it has the educational, regulative, ethic and social function. As for integration processes, the research of Portes and Rumbaut on the American reality have underlined that selective assimilationist is based on the role that social capital, activated by the family in the moment that the children enter the job market, has in conditioning the paths of life of new generations (Esser, 2004; Portes,

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3689

Hao, 2002). Furthemore, the possession on behalf of the parents of a high or low cultural level is a factor able to affect social trajectories of the children and, in particular, scholastic success - in the terms of a major investment in education (Bourdieu, 2001) - and on future expectations (Giovannini, Queirolo Palmas, 2002).

In the research the educational degree of the parents, the structure of the family, the support given by the family to the preadolescents with homework has been considered. As for children with Italian parents, foreigners and mixed couples, if and in which measure such factors affect scholastic success has been considered; it was intended to investigate also the correlation between the family’s cultural level and the formation of a regional and National identification, the formation of multiple belonging, the building of intercultural relations and intercultural exchanges.

Considering the national origin of the interviewed it is necessary to say that the ethnic-cultural variables can be dangerous if we take on the essentialist conception of culture rather than a dynamic and a procedural one (Bauman, 1998; Taguieff, 1999; Wieviorka, 2002; Waston, 2004). Moreover some researches highlight how the geographical provenience of the parents is extremely connected to culture and how it can influence sharing of rules and reciprocal behaviour expectations (Dubet, Martuccelli, 1996). In Portes and Rumbaut’s research (2001), that have studied the scholastic pathways of second generations according to the National origin of the parents, the latter is one of the predictive variables compared to the result of scholastic integration. Considering what is being analyzed tried to be proved - when empirical proof are linked to National origin - the group of factors that concur to defining the socio-existential reality in a group or in another.

The investigation carried out on new generations of immigrants has highlighted the importance of the time spent in the welcoming country for the process of integration of foreign children. In particular, literature suggests that among the children born and that attend school in the destination country and the children arrived in the welcoming country later in their life there are different expectations of life and social mobility (Rumbaut 1997; Ambrosini, Molina 2004). Specifically, the age of immigration shows a correlation between scholastic failure, with scholastic results and with the choice of formative paths. Literature on the theme shows also that the variable of time influences on the process of integration, but not in a linear directs way, and that is a not sufficient factor to favour the process of integration (Besozzi, Colombo, 2007). Considering this it has been analyzed if with the increasing of time spent in Italy of foreign students: there is a better scholastic success; there are more frequent friendly relations; there is a strong of the feeling of a national and regional identification; there is a creation of a sense of multiple belonging and of intercultural exchanges.

The results of the research of major interest regard different aspects of scholastic experience of the pupils: intercultural relations; intercultural exchanges; multiple-belonging; values considered important in life.

3.2 Intercultural relations

To investigate the aspect of school as a place where to learn the images of the world concerning the construction of citizenship and of living together in a plural society, the opinion of preadolescents on the following themes has been taken into consideration: the teaching in the Italian school of Italian and European history or the history of all the populations; multicultural teaching; the teaching of religion; the exposition of religious symbols in the public school; the teaching of the Italian Constitution (C.M. 73/1994; MPI, 2007; Mentasti, Ottaviano, 2008; Besozzi, 2008).

From the answers there is a strong inclination of students (77%) towards the idea of school as a place where to learn the history of European and extra-European populations, damaging a marked Eurocentric proposal. As concerns the teaching of only the Italian and European culture or a multicultural teaching, a precise orientation of the preadolescents towards the opinion that school should offer the opportunity to teach the culture of all people is registered (73%). Taking this into consideration an internal differentiation of subgroups is ascertained, in the sense that the Italians (74%) are more inclined than the foreigners (69%) towards didactics that are open to a comparison between different cultures.

At the same time, substantially all the students interviewed (87%) have developed the idea of the opportunity of teaching the Italian Constitution to all students, that is to say the fundamental principles that are at the basis of the social living together.

3690 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

In the multi-ethnic classroom, together with students with different religious beliefs there are also different religious practises and signs. In the current debate one of the most discussed topics is the value of an interreligious dialogue for the intercultural formation (MPI, 2007; Chen, 2006; Mentasti, Ottaviano, 2008). The opinions of the interviewed preadolescents concerning the question of teaching religion and the exposition of religious symbols in the public school are complex. Overall, among the students there is a difficulty to consider school as a place that can offer the opportunity to enlarge students’ view in a multireligious key.

Taking into consideration the cultural level of the family (Buordieu, 1980; 2001), it is noticeable that a higher degree of education on the parents’ behalf plays a positive role in the children’s formation of the idea of school as a place where a multicultural teaching, open to a possible interreligious meeting and, at the same time, as a place of learning about the Constitution can be carried out.

The percentage of students that think that at school, history of the European populations and also extra European should be taught increases from 75% in children with families with a low cultural background to 84% among children with parents with a university degree. In the same way, 48% of children with parents from a high cultural background think that that in school all religions should be taught compared to 37% among the students with parents with a high school or middle school degree (Figure 5). At the same time, the number of preadolescents that think that in the Italian school everybody should study the Constitution increases from 82% among the children with parents with a low education level to 88% among children with parents with a high school degree and to 90% among the children with parents with a university degree (Figure 6).

In the Italian school they should teach:

0%

20%

40%

60%

Only catholicreligion

49% 50% 43% 45% 48%

All the religions 37% 37% 48% 43% 40%

No religion 14% 14% 10% 12% 13%

Compul Secon Univer Do not know

Total

Is it correct to teach the Italian Constitution in the Italian schools to

all students?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

yes 82% 88% 90% 88% 87%

no 18% 12% 10% 12% 13%

compulsory

educat ionhigh school universit y do not know Tot al

Figure 5. Teaching of Religion (Parents’ educational title) Figure 6. Teaching of the Italian Constitution (Parents’ educational title)

Observing the importance of gender on the creation of intercultural relations in school, it is evident that this factor influences the opinion on the teaching of the Constitution and, even if in a lesser way, on culture, that is to say that girls are mostly oriented than boys on the idea that in school everybody should study the Constitution (90% among girls, compared to 84% among boys) and that European and extra European cultures should be taught too.

Religious pluralism that characterizes educational institutions and European societies, leads to the question of the importance of the religious dimension in an intercultural ambit.

Ministerial directions underline that interreligious dialogue can be an educational resource for intercultural education, that is intended to favour the development of attitudes like respect and reciprocity in the exploration of the self (MPI, 2007; Besozzi, 2008). Interreligiosity is an occasion to learn about and to compare different practices and symbols. Furthermore, there are no curricular programmes on “religious fact” in its different historical and cultural manifestations.

In literature it is underlined that the interreligious meeting needs a dialogic comparison - that develops common meanings, even in diversity - on the presence of multiple practices and religious signs, that necessarily enter

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3691

the classroom with the students belonging to different religious creeds. «The core of the matter is above all cultural and educational: the religious phenomena, in its different manifestations, it cannot be eluded because it is part of human experience […]. School becomes the privileged place where to learn messages coming from different creeds - religious, but also nondenominational - and to promote a comparison on them, to increase the value of the universality of meanings and values subtended, having as a unifying line the fundamental principles contained in the Constitution» (Mentasti, Ottaviano, 2008: 231).

3.3 Intercultural exchanges

The Italian scholastic regulation remarks how intercultural education includes two complementary dimensions: the cognitive one and the relational one. Communication, exchange of experience and cooperation in the classroom favour interculturality (C.M. 73/1994; MPI, 2007). Relational dimension of intercultural education has been investigated through behaviour and intercultural exchanges in the relations at school and with extra scholastic group of peers (Dubet, Martuccelli, 1996; De Piccoli, Favretto, Zaltron, 2001; Giovannini, Queirolo Palmas, 2002).

From the results of the research it is noticeable that a significantly amount of preadolescents show autonomy towards the group: almost half of the students (49%) “often” express their own opinions also when they differ from the people of the same age and 66% of the interviewed “never” get into a fight to make their own opinions be heard.

Furthermore, on a whole Italian, foreign and children of mixed couplet students do not perceive a discriminating attitude towards foreigners either from their Italian classmates or their teachers. Accordingly almost 43% of the three subgroups declare they get the impression that for the majority of the Italian classmates the fact that some friends are of non Italian origin is a reason of major attention and to be helped. A percentage that is between 50% and 46,5% declares to be indifferent to the origin of their classmates. In all the three subgroups the number of preadolescents that perceive discriminating attitudes towards non Italian classmates is significantly low (under 10%). To the question that considers whether foreign students or with a non Italian parent perceived attitudes of discrimination towards themselves about 63% of the foreign students interviewed answered no, almost 30% declared that the fact they are non Italian origin is a reason for major attention and only a small percentage (7%) affirms it is a reason for isolation. With more time spent in Italy the percentage of foreign students that perceives major attention from Italians decreases (from 31% to 27%) and the one of foreign students who feel they are being treated as Italian students increases (from 62% to 66%). This data can be explained, partly, with the fact that more time spent in Italy increases the knowledge of Italian and the need of less help.

Furthermore, the percentage of students that act out behaviour that contribute to the development of intercultural relations is restrained: only 27% of the interviewed help themselves “often” in class while carrying out homework, while 60% helps one another occasionally; the preadolescents rarely exchange games with their classmates; in class the people of the same age are marginalized with a higher frequency (40% of the interviewed answered “often”) compared to what happens in the extra scholastic group of peers (24% declared that in the groups they go out with “often” there are phenomena of marginalization). The amount (23%) of preadolescents that “often” protect classmates when they are marginalized from the group is also very low.

Differences between autochthonous and immigrants emerge. The autochthonous show more autonomy compared to the group, they help one another and exchange games more often with friends out of the scholastic context.

However, with the increase of the time spent in the destination country, the inclination of the immigrants to carry out behaviours that promote intercultural exchange grows. That is to say that they express their own ideas also when they disagree with the group, they cooperate and exchange experiences with their classmates (Figure 7; Figure 8).

School, therefore, can carry out a precious role in promoting behaviour of cooperation, experience sharing and of intercultural exchange (Coleman, 1968).

3692 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

D o you espr e ss your i de a a ev en when

you do not a gr e e wi t h y uor f r ie ns?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Never 3% 14% 2% 4% 4%

Sometises 50% 53% 45% 49% 47%

Of ten 48% 34% 53% 47% 49%

Under six

year s of

age

Over

seven

year s of

Ital ian

Mixed

couples

chi ldr en

Total

In t he c la ssr oom do you he lp or ge t

he lpwhi le doing home wor k ?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Never 14% 16% 12% 9% 13%

Sometises 53% 58% 61% 66% 61%

Of ten 33% 26% 27% 26% 27%

Under si x

year s of

age

Over

seven

year s of

Ital ian

Mixed

couples

chi ldr en

Total

Figure 7. Behaviour with schoolmates and with group of peers (Citizenship - Foreigners by age of immigration) Figure 8. Behaviour with schoolmates and with group of peers (Citizenship - Foreigners by age of immigration)

A higher degree of scholastic education of the parents is a factor that promotes in children autonomy towards the group (58,5% of children with parents with an university degree and 54,1% of children with parents with a high school degree “often” express their own ideas without problems even when they do not agree with their friends, compared to 40,9% of children with parents with a low cultural degree), sharing experiences with classmates and other friends and solidarity towards weaker classmates (Coleman 1988; 2005) (Figure 9).

As regards the differences of gender, girls show more than boys attitudes towards intercultural exchange in relations inside and outside school. Among the female students, in fact, there is a less conformation (female students “often” express their ideas in the group of peers with a higher frequency than their male peers - 52,3% of girls and 45,9% of boys), a higher inclination to cooperation and solidarity in the classroom, a major sensibility in the perception of exclusion phenomena among the classmates (Figure 10).

D o y ou e spr e ss y our ide as e ve n whe n

you do not a gr e e wi t h y our f r ie nds?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Never 5% 3% 3% 7% 4%

Sometises 54% 43% 38% 56% 47%

Of ten 41% 54% 58% 37% 49%

Compulsor

Secondar y

school Univer si ty

Do not

know Total

Do you espr ess y our i dea s even when you

do not age e wi t h your f i ens ?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

M al e 4% 50% 46%

Femal e 4% 43% 52%

T otal 4% 47% 49%

Never Somet i ses Of ten

Figure 9. Behaviour with schoolmates and with group of peers (Parents’ educational title) Figure 10. Behaviour with schoolmates and with group of peers (Gender)

3. 4 Identity and multiple belonging

The “new” immigrant youth presence is a factor that is transforming western society from the foundations and sets a series of crucial challenges for the re-definition of social life in the welcoming countries. The growth of a

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3693

“new generation” no more ethnically homogeneous with the autochthonous population represents a factor of disorder of National identities of the receiving countries. They attest that National identification is not necessarily associated with population homogeneity and shows that social cohesion needs to be built with aware efforts and far-sighted policies (Kymlicka, 1995; Bauman, 1998).

The challenge that the multiethnic society has to face is formed from the passage by a “traditional” concept of citizenship centred on the belonging to one “country-state” (Beck, 2003) to a pluralist idea and negotiated by a national belonging, in which socializing, prolonged residency and the will to participate in the citizenship agreement are important too. Such idea of national belonging can be the critical place for the elaboration, never concluded, of a national identity able to incorporate immigrant “new generations”, that grow up in multiethnic contexts and show mixed cultural traits and plural identities (Ambrosini, 2008; Bloemraad, 2009). Also in the Green Paper(Commission of the European Communities, 2008) the importance of a common belonging feeling is highlighted. This feeling is based on diversity as an antidote for decline linked to the fanatic identitary assertions.

Furthermore, adolescence and preadolescence are crucial moments for the creation of individual and social identity, because in this age group they are influenced, in building the self, by the relations with the others (Besozzi, 1999). The process of creating an identity in foreign youth can be more complex than the one of young Italians, because foreign young people are at a loss that is generated from the sense of belonging more or less strong to two different realities. In other words, new generations are confronted on different proposals: the one on the country of origin, the one on the welcoming country, the one elaborated by the migrating family and also the one the Italians consider typically of their ethnicity (Dalla Zuanna et al., 2009). Mancini (2006) highlights how the condition that seems adapt to describe multicultural societies of our globalized world is multiple belonging

As for the formation of a sense of National belonging or multiple belonging in preadolescents that make experiences in a plural society and school, the results of the investigation show an articulate picture.

On the whole, over two thirds of the preadolescents interviewed have developed a National belonging feeling (70%), and a regional one too (66%). Naturally there are some differences between Italians and foreigners. About 81% of the Italians interviewed feel “Italian” and 79% feel “abruzzese”. However the amount of foreigners (37%) that have developed a belonging feeling towards the welcoming country is significant.

Besides, to confirm what emerged from the Cils investigation carried out by Portes in the schools in San Diego and Miami, with the increase of the time spent in the welcoming country, the inclination to develop a feeling of belonging to such country grows. The amount of immigrants that feel “Italian” goes from 26% among the students that arrived in Italy after six years of age to 56% among preadolescents born in the welcoming country or that arrived during the first years of their lives.

Relevant are also the data concerning the formation of super-national identities (Kymlicka, 1995; Council of Europe, 2008; Bloemraad, 2009). An amount still limited of students declared to feel “citizen of the world” (38%) and a “European citizen” (39%). That shows an initial process that can be helped in the ambit of intercultural teaching.

Citizenship is a factor that is able to influence the development of identity that is wider than the National one. The amount of immigrants that feel “citizens of the world” (28%) is definitely lower than the Italians (41%). The foreigners that have developed a feeling of belonging to Europe are only 21% of the interviewed: 29% among preadolescents coming from eastern European countries, 19% among the Africans, and decreasing, 5% among the Asians (Figure 11).

The period of permanency in the welcoming country plays a positive role in the creation of trans national identities: the amount of immigrants that has developed a cosmopolitan feeling goes from 23% of preadolescents arrived in Italy during schooling age to 37% among them that were born in Italy or arrived during the first years of their lives (Figure 12).

3694 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

Do you feel: European

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes 71% 81% 95% 82% 79%

No 29% 19% 5% 18% 21%

Eastern

Europe Af rica Asia Other Tot al

Do you feel: citizen of the w orld

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Yes 63% 77% 59% 60% 62%

No 37% 23% 41% 40% 38%

Under six

years of

age

Over seven

years of

age

Italian

Mixed

couples

children

Total

Figure 11. Multiple belonging (Areas of provenience) Figure 12. Multiple belonging (Citizenship - Foreigners by age of immigration)

Also the parents’ qualification positively influences the developing of a multiple-belonging feeling. In fact, it is noticeable that there is a major inclination of children with parents with a medium or high level of education to develop a sense of multiple belonging and, particularly to develop ways of belonging that are wider than the National ones, like the European one (44,5% of children with parents with a high school degree and 46,3% of children with parents with a university degree declared to feel “European”, against 31% of children with parents with a middle school degree) (Figure 13) and cosmopolitan (43,9% of children with parents with a high school degree and 42,5% of children with parents with a university degree declared to feel “citizen of the world”, against 31% of children with parents with a middle school degree) (Figure 14).

Figure 13. Multiple belonging (Parents’ educational title) Figure 14. Multiple belonging (Parents’ educational title)

The development of a European sense of belonging is considered within the matter of a European identity. The identity of Europe is still being created and the founding values of Europe are not visible at school yet. Therefore, the necessity to teach these values within the scholastic institution, that are at the basis of the European citizenship,

Do you feel: citizen of the World

69%56% 58%

71%62%

31%44% 43%

29%38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

compulsoryeducation

high school university do notknow

Total

yes

no

Do you feel: European

69%56% 54%

68%61%

31%45% 46%

32%39%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

compulsoryeducation

high school university do notknow

Total

yes

no

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3695

is evident from the research (De Wenden, 2001; 2008). Generally, school can unfold an important role in the creation of social ties and fluid, flexible and inclusive belonging in the formation of a multiple citizenship.

4. Conclusions

The analysis of the scholastic experience of Italian and immigrant students shows that among the preadolescents that make experiences in a plural school characterized by an intercultural model and intercultural exchange begin to take place and intercultural relations and forms of multiple belonging are carried out. Furthermore, the process is still at the beginning and it can be helped in the ambit of an intercultural education, in order to build a multiple and shared citizenship and to promote a living together in a plural society.

Not only citizenship and, as for the foreigners, the age of migration and the macro area of provenience, but also factors relative to gender and conventional elements of social stratification is fundamental for the scholastic experience of preadolescents. Besides, in line with the studies on the theme, it is evident how the transversality of the positive action that a higher cultural level of education in the parents has in influencing the building of relations and intercultural exchange, and also the creation of multiple belonging. Moreover, the girls, on a whole, appear more inclined than boys to be autonomous in the group of peers; they are more oriented in cooperating in the classroom and exchanging experiences. These results confirm what has already been stated in recent researches (Besozzi, 2003; Besozzi, 2005; Besozzi, Colombo, 2007), that is to say that during preadolescence the difference in gender is sometimes more evident than differences between Italians and foreigners.

School in a multi-ethnic society has to face the difficult challenge to give all students the same educational pathways, to promote mainly strategies that can give resources for the right to study and for the full participation in the scholastic life. Scholastic education is also called to promote the respect for diversity with the research of shared criteria of looking at reality through a shared nucleus of fundamental values, in order to build a citizenship that implies respect of the individual rights and that recognises common values (Council of Europe, 2008; Nesse network, 2008; Giovannini, 2008).

In the ambit of civic education it is possible to show the principles of the Constitution, the universal declaration of human rights and International institutions. Cultural, religious and linguistic diversity can contribute significantly to the intercultural dialogue.

Scholastic subjects - history, geography, literature, mathematics and other - are an opportunity of intercultural formation. For this purpose when teaching history it is necessary to conceptualize the link between history-citizenship and overcome a Eurocentric proposal. Geography can allow opening students view from a local reality to a National one, from a European context to a worldwide one and can promote the creation of a global conscience. An intercultural consideration on the language events, an approach towards European cultures and extra-European ones and the reflection on their relations are privileged when teaching Italian. At the same time artistic and musical education allow an approach towards other cultures and their relations. Mathematical-scientifically subjects are a fundamental contribution to intercultural education, since they promote the ability of coherent reasoning, appreciation of comparison of ideas, and a critic attitude. The reference to a personal or group contribution of scholars from different countries to scientific progress can show the debt that every country has towards external contributions. Similarly, learning foreign languages offers communication instruments, approaches a different way to organize thought and culture that is expressed in every language. Interreligiosity that appears in scholastic institutions is a concrete opportunity to get to know different religious practices and signs and can be exploited through practices of dialogic comparison (Mentasti, Ottaviano, 2008).

Intercultural education has to be imagined also as a specific curricular space that can be defined as a new education to citizenship that includes intercultural dimension and has as its objectives openness, equality, social living together and social cohesion (MPI, 2007). The civic education classes allow the presentation of the principles of the Constitution, in accordance with the universal declaration of human rights, and of communitarian and international institutions (C.M. 73/1994; EriCarts, 2008; Commission of the European Communities, 2008).

Plural school, where people with different cultural backgrounds meet, is a space of identity building for all the students, and of plural and shared citizenship and a laboratory of creation of living together in a multiethnic and multicultural society (Kymlicka, 1995; Council of Europe, 2008; Bloemraad, 2009). The educational challenge is

3696 Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697

introduced in the objective of social cohesion, since scholastic failure of new generations can give origin to a difficulty in the development of feelings of belonging and social bonds.

References

Alba, R., & Nee V. (1997). Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration. International Migration Rewiew, vol. 31, 4, 826-74. Ambrosini, M. (2007). Integrazione e multiculturalismo: una falsa alternativa. Mondi Migranti. Rivista di studi e ricerche sulle migrazioni

internazionali, a. 1, n. 1. Ambrosini, M. (2008). Un’altra globalizzazione. Bologna: Il Mulino. Ambrosini M., Abbatecola E. (2009). Migrazioni e società. Una rassegna di studi internazionali. Milano: Franco Angeli. Ambrosini M., & Berti F. (2009). Persone e migrazioni. Integrazione locale e sentieri di co-sviluppo. Milano: Franco Angeli. Ambrosini M., Molina S. (2004). Seconde generazioni. Torino: Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli. Amrosini M., Queirolo Palmas L. (2005). I Latinos alla scoperta dell’Europa, Milano: Franco Angeli. Barbagli, M. (2006). L’integrazione scolastica delle seconde generazioni di stranieri nelle scuole secondarie di primo grado della Regione

Emilia Romagna. Bologna: Osservatorio sulle differenze, Comune Bologna. Bauman, Z. (1998). Globalization. The Human Consequences. Cambridge-Oxford: Polity Press, Blackwell. Beck U. (2003). La società cosmopolita. Prospettive dell’epoca postnazionale, It. Trans., Bologna: Il Mulino. Benhabib S. (2005), La rivendicazione dell’identità culturale. Eguaglianza e diversità nell’era globale. It. Trans. Bologna: Il Mulino. Besozzi E. (1999). Inserimento e integrazione di bambini stranieri a scuola: gli orientamenti di politica scolastica. Autonomie Locali e Servizi

Sociali, 3. Besozzi E. (2003). Il genere come risorsa comunicativa. Maschile e femminile nei processi di crescita, Milano, Franco Angeli. Besozzi E. (2005). I progetti di educazione interculturale in Lombardia: dal monitoraggio alle buone pratiche, Regione Lombardia, Osservatorio

Regionale sulle migrazioni e sulla multietnicità, Milano, Fondazione Ismu. Besozzi, E. (2008). Culture in gioco e modelli di integrazione nella scuola italiana. In M. Clementi (Eds.), La scuola e il dialogo interculturale.

Quaderni Ismu, 2/2008 (pp. 25-38). Milano: Vita e Pensiero. Besozzi E., Colombo M. (2007). Giovani stranieri in Lombardia tra presente e futuro. Motivazioni, esperienze e aspettative nell’istruzione e

nella formazione professionale. Relazione 2006, Regione Lombardia, Osservatorio Regionale sulle migrazioni e sulla multietnicità, Milano, Fondazione Ismu.

Besozzi E., Colombo M., Santagati M. (2009). Giovani stranieri, nuovi cittadini. Le strategie di una generazione ponte, Franco Angeli: Milano. Bloemraad I. (2009). Cittadinanza e immigrazione: una rassegna contemporanea. In M. Ambrosini, & E. Abbatecola (Eds.), Migrazioni e società.

Una rassegna di studi internazionali (pp. 155-188). Milano: Franco Angeli. Body-Gendrot S. (1995). Models of immigration Integration in France and the United States. In Smith M.P., Feagin J. (Eds.), The Bubbling Cauldron: race, ethnicity and the urban crisis (pp. 244-262), Minneapolis: University Press of Minnesota. Bourdieu, P. (1980). Le capital social. Notessoires. Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, n. 3,31. Bourdieu, P. (2001). La distinzione. Critica sociale del gusto, Bologna: Il Mulino. Brubaker, R. (2001). The Return of Assimilation? Changing Perspectives on Immigration and Its Sequels in France, Germany and the United

States. Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 24, 4, 531-548. Cesareo, V. (2004). L’Altro. Identità, dialogo e conflitto nella società plurale. Milano: Vita e Pensiero. Cesareo, V. (2008). Migrazioni 2007: uno sguardo d’insieme. In Tredicesimo rapporto sulle migrazioni 2007 (pp. 7-38). Milano: Fondazione

Ismu, Franco Angeli. Chen C. (2006). From filial piety to religious piety: evangelical Christianity reconstructing Taiwanese immigrant families in the United States.

International Migration Rewiew, XL, 573-602.C.M. (Circolare Ministeriale) 73/1994. Oggetto: Dialogo interculturale e convivenza democratica: l'impegno progettuale della scuola.

http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/circolari/cm073_94.html. Coleman, J., S. (1968). The Concept of Equality of Educational Opportunity. Harward Educational Rewiew, XXXVIII, 1. Coleman, J., S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. American Journal of Sociology, vol. 94, suppl., 95-121. Coleman, J., S. (2005). Fondamenti di teoria sociale, Bologna: Il Mulino. CM (Circolare Ministeriale) 73/1994. Dialogo interculturale e convivenza democratica: l’impegno progettuale della scuola (Parte II, 5

“Discipline e intercultura”). www.pubblica.istruzione.it. Commissione Europea (2010a). Europa 2020. Una strategia per una crescita intelligente, sostenibile e inclusiva. Bruxelles, 3.3.2010. Commissione Europea (2010b). Un nuovo slancio per la cooperazione europea in materia di Istruzione e Formazione professionale a sostegno

della strategia europea 2020. Bruxelles, 9.6.2010. Commission of the European Communities (2008). Green Paper. Migration & mobility: challenges and opportunities for EU education systems.

Brussels: http://eurlex.europa.eu/. Council of Europe (2008). White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue. Living Together s Equals in Dignity, Strasburgo: www.coe.int/dialogue. Dalla Zuanna, G., Farina, P., & Strozza, S. (2009). Nuovi italiani. I giovani immigrati cambieranno il nostro paese?. Bologna: Il Mulino. De Piccoli N., & Favretto A.R., & Zaltron F., (2001). Norme e agire quotidiano negli adolescenti. Bologna: Il Mulino. De Wenden C. W. (2001). L’Europe des migrantions, ADRI, La Documentation Française, Paris.

Rina Manuela Contini et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 3683–3697 3697

De Wenden C. W. (2008). Il dialogo interculturale in prospettiva europea. In Clementi M. (Eds.), La scuola e il dialogo interculturale (pp. 17-24), Quaderni Ismu, 2/2008.

Dubet, F., & Martuccelli, D. (1996). A l’école. Sociologie de l’expérience scolaire. Paris: Seuil. EriCarts (2008). Sharing Diversity. National approaches to intercultural dialogue in Europe. Rapporto di ricerca commissionato dalla DG

Educazione e Cultura della Commissione Europea. http://www.interculturadialogue.eu.Esser, H. (2004).“Does the ‘new’ immigration require a ‘new’ theory of intergenerational integration?”. International Migration Rewiew, vol. 38, n. 3, 1126-1159. Featherstone, M. (1998). La cultura dislocata. Globalizzazione, postmodernismo, identità. Roma: Seam. Fondazione ISMU (2008), Tredicesimo rapporto sulle migrazioni 2007. Milano: Franco Angeli. Gangs J.H. (2009). Verso una riconciliazione tra “assimilazione” e “pluralismo”: l’interazione tra acculturazione e persistenza etnica. In M. Ambrosini, & E. Abbatecola (Eds.), Migrazioni e società. Una rassegna di studi internazionali (99-118). Milano: Franco Angeli. Geertz, C. (1999). Mondo globale, mondi locali. Bologna: Il Mulino. Giddens A. (1994). Le conseguenze della modernità. Bologna: Il Mulino. Giovannini, G. (2008). La scuola. In Tredicesimo rapporto sulle migrazioni 2007 (pp. 131-143). Milano: Fondazione Ismu, Franco Angeli. Giovannini, G., & Queirolo Palmas, L. (2002). Una scuola in comune. Esperienze scolastiche in contesti multietnici italiani. Torino: Edizioni

Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli. Kao G. (2004). Parental influences on the educational outcomes of immigrant yuth. International Migration Rewiew, n. 38, 2, pp. 427-449. Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kristeva, J. (1991), Strangers to ourselves. (Transl. by L.S.Roudiez). New York: Columbia University Press. Mentasti, L., & Ottaviano, C. (2008). Cento cieli in classe. Milano: Unicopoli. MPI (Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione - Osservatorio nazionale per l’integrazione degli alunni stranieri e per l’educazione interculturale)

(2007). La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione degli alunni stranieri. www.pubblica.istruzione.it. Nesse Network (2008). Education and Migration. Strategies for integrating migrant children in European schools and societies. Brussels:

Education & Culture DG. www.nesse.fr. Park, R.E., & Burgess, E.W. (1924). Introduction to the Science of Sociology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Perlman, J., & Waldinger R. (1997). Second Generation Decline? Children of Immigrants, past and present - A reconsideration. International

Migration Rewiew, XXXI, 4, Winter, 893-921. Portes A. (2004). For the Second Generation, One Step at Time, in Jacoby T. (Eds.), Reinventing the Melting Pot (pp. 155-166), New York, Basic

Books. Portes, A., & Hao L. (2002). The price of uniformity: Language, family and personality adjustment in the immigrant Second generation. Ethnic

and Racial Studies, 25, 889-912. Portes, A., & Rumbaut R.G. (2001). Legacies. The story of the migrant second generation, Berkeley-New York: University of California Press-

Russel Sage Foundation. Portes, A., & Rumbaut R.G. (2005). Introduction: The Second Generation and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study. Ethnic and Racial

Studies, Special Iusse The Second Generation in Early Adulthood, XXVIII, 6, November, 983-999. Portes A., Rumbaut R.G. (2006). Immigrant America. A portrait, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press (third edition). Portes A., & Sesenbrenner J. (2009). Embeddedness e immigrazione: riflessioni sui fattori sociali determinanti dell’azione economica. In M.

Ambrosini, & E. Abbatecola (Eds.), Migrazioni e società. Una rassegna di studi internazionali (65-98). Milano: Franco Angeli. Rubén G., Rumbaut R.G. (2004), Ages, Life Stages, and Generational Cohorts: Decomposing the Immigrant First and Second Generations in the

United States. In International Migration Review, vol.38, n. 2, 1160-1205. Rumbaut R.G. (1997). Assimilation and its discontents: between rhetoric and reality. International Migration Rewiew, vol. XXXI, n. 4 (Winter),

1997, 923-960. Sassen S. (2007). A sociology of globalizzazion. New York: Norton & Company. Simmel G. (1983). Forme e giochi di società. Milano: Feltrinelli. Taguieff P.A. (1999). Il razzismo. Pregiudizi, teorie, comportamenti. Milano: Raffaello Cortina. Waston C.W. (2004). Multiculturalismo. Le dimensioni sociali della diversità. Enna: Città Aperta. Wieviorka M. (2002). La differenza culturale. Una prospettiva sociologica. Roma-Bari: Laterza. Zhou, M. (1997), Segmented assimilation: controversies, and recent research on the new second generation. International Migration Review, vol.

31, 4, 975-1008.