92591 - POLITICHE LOCALI DELL'ACCOGLIENZA E DELL'INTEGRAZIONE

Learning outcomes

This course aims at analysing the policies for the inclusion (or the exclusion) of immigrants at the local level by focusing on the notion of residency. By the end of the course, students will be expected to have developed the capacity to: employ the most relevant concepts and theoretical tools in the field of immigrants' reception and integration; understand the reception and integration policies carried out by the local Italian governments and assess their functioning and their effects; analyse the consequences on the paths of integration of the political and administrative actions of local administrations in fields such as civil registration; critically reason on the diverse styles of municipal government and the compatibility between local choices and state laws.

Course contents

The course focuses on immigrant integration policies carried out by the Italian municipalities. The main objects of analysis are the formal and informal tools through which local administrations pursue their purposes, and whether these tools are oriented toward the full inclusion of newcomers or, on the contrary, toward their more or less explicit exclusion. The political goals of local governments and the administrative devices they adopt will be inspected in parallel to assessment of the consequences of their actions. The Italian case will be particularly stressed, but other countries will be analysed as well.


The first part of the course is devoted to defining the policies of inclusion and retracing their institutional history. Particular attention will be paid to certain keywords such as "reception" and "integration": their different meanings and their diverse uses will be deeply stressed.

The second part is more specifically focused on the issue of residency and civil registration. Residency will be framed as a form of local territorial membership and local citizenship, and its functions and implications will be compared to the territorial memberships of other levels. Moreover, the historical development of demographic tools and their use as devices of monitoring and controlling the territory as well as administering welfare provisions will be retraced. Through this analysis, the course will focus on the differences among the diverse municipalities in terms of political orientation, kinds of administrative tools employed, and effects produced.

Readings/Bibliography

The mandatory examination texts are as follows:

1. Gargiulo E., 2019, Appartenenze precarie. La residenza tra inclusione ed esclusione, Torino, Utet.
2. Gargiulo E., 2014, Dall’inclusione programmata alla selezione degli immigrati. Le visioni dell’integrazione nei Documenti di programmazione del Governo italiano, in “Polis”, n. 2;
3. Gargiulo E., 2018, Integrati ma subordinati, in I confini dell’inclusione. La civic integration tra selezione e disciplinamento dei corpi migranti, Roma, DeriveApprodi;
4. Marchetti C., 2016, Le sfide dell’accoglienza. Passato e presente dei sistemi istituzionali di accoglienza per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati in Italia, in "Meridiana", n. 86;
5. Russo Spena M. e Carbone V., 2018, Management delle migrazioni, regimi discorsivi culturalisti e politiche di workfare, in I confini dell’inclusione. La civic integration tra selezione e disciplinamento dei corpi migranti, Roma, DeriveApprodi;
6. Gargiulo E., Dare forma alla popolazione: l'anagrafe e le sue performatività, in "Rassegna Italiana di sociologia", early access (https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1423/103224).

The non-mandatory (integrative) readings are as follows (the list could be updated during the course):

1. Accorinti M., 2015, Centri di accoglienza: varietà tipologica e dibattito collegato, in "La rivista delle politiche sociali", n. 2-3;
2. Campesi G., 2016, Chiedere asilo in tempo di crisi. Accoglienza, confinamento e detenzione ai margini d’Europa, in Marchetti C. e Pinelli B. (a cura di), Confini d’Europa. Modelli di controllo e inclusioni informali, Milano, Raffaello Cortina;
3. Giovannetti M., 2021, La riforma del sistema di accoglienza e integrazione per richiedenti e titolari di protezione internazionale, in "Diritto, immigrazione e cittadinanza", n. 1;

Teaching methods

The first half of the total classes will be composed of lectures, in which the contents described above will be explored. Within these lessons, the participation of students, in the form of asking questions and making remarks and contributions, will be strongly encouraged.

The second half of the total classes will comprise seminars, in which the core topics of the course will be collectively discussed. Students will be required to carefully read the assigned material before the session, and will be expected to actively participate by means of powerpoint presentations or public discussions.

The course is organized with a part of lectures taught online on MS TEAMS (30/20 hours) and another taught in presence (30/20 hours). The number of students allowed in class is determined on the basis of class capacity and by the health and safety provisions that deal with the pandemic emergency. In case more students want to attend classes in presence than permitted by the rules, a system of shifts will be organized so to allow students to participate. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

Assessment methods

Student apprehension will be assessed through a written exam, consisting of an open-ended question aiming at verifying the cross acquisition of the main concepts of the course and the ability to link them to one another.

Students enrolled at the exam will receive a link for accessing the Teams room. Once accessed it, they will receive all the information they need to attend the written test. Basically, students can choose one question to answer among different questions, sent through the Teams chat. They have three hours to provide a written answer (about 8/10.000 characters; the minimum lenght is 6000 characters, while the maximum lenght is 12.000 characters). They can use textbooks and other sources. If they literally quote a text, they have to indicate it clearly by using quotation marks and bibliographical references.

Students are evaluated on the basis of: the ability to deepen and put into connection with each other the main issues addressed in the course; the use of appropriate language with the specific nature of the discipline. It will produce discrete valuations: mnemonic knowledge of contents and partial ability to link the themes covered; the use of appropriate language. It will produce sufficient valuations: a minimal body of knowledge on the topics covered; the use of inappropriate language. It will produce negative valuations: lack of guidance within the themes addressed in the exam readings and training gaps; the use of inappropriate language.

Teaching tools

The course uses slides in powerpoint, which will be made available to the students at the beginning of each lesson.

Office hours

See the website of Enrico Gargiulo