Civic activism abroad: a diachronic analysis of Tunisian migrant organizations in Italy

This article takes stock of and comparatively analyzes the scope and motivations of civic activities of Buddhists and Buddhist organizations in Italy and Switzerland. Based on the analytical perspective of civic engagement, we suggest discerning civic activities on a continuum from nonengagement to activist engagement, distinguishing the four types of nonengagement, intermediary, shaper, and activist. Further, the article differentiates four social motivations and four Buddhist motivations for civic engagement. The scope of civic engagement appears to be much larger in Italy than in Switzerland. The article formulates six hypothetical explanations for the difference, arguing that national and cultural specifics, differences in the legal system regarding the governance of religions, and the composition of the Buddhist populations are crucial in understanding the dissimilar scope of Buddhist civic engagement in the two countries.

Chinese communities represent one of the largest migrant groups in Italy. Current scholarship overwhelmingly focuses on Chinese ethnic businesses and identity issues. This article addresses an important but under‐researched topic: the role of migrant organisations in enhancing migrant transnationalism and/or local integration. We examine three predominant types of Chinese migrant organisations in Italy—civic, educational, religious—across multiple cities. We show that, at first sight, educational and religious organisations aim to serve the communities in maintaining transnational links with the Chinese‐speaking world, while civic organisations directly promote interactions with the local society. However, deeper analyses reveal that all three types of organisations can play an active role in fostering both migrant transnationalism and local integration, to different degrees in different domains. We discuss policy implications and how potential synergetic collaborations between host society stakeholders and migrant organisations could be explored.

Italian civil society against the Mafia: From perceptions to expectations

ABSTRACTThe article discusses the link between religious and civic participation in Riga based on the data obtained from a social survey in 2014. Religious and civic participation is a prerequisite for building social capital within a local community. Four types of relationships between civic and religious engagement have been identified: (1) individuals with no religious or civic activity; (2) religiously active individuals with no civic activity; (3) individuals involved in civic activities but who are religiously inactive; and (4) individuals involved in both religious and civic activities. Although the survey data indicate a weak correlation between civic and religious activities, religiously active individuals are more likely to be involved in civic activities.

Civic Studies:

The purpose of this study was to investigate community-oriented and political civic engagement activities and intentions among youth in Italy and the United States. Adolescents (N = 566) from academically rigorous schools in both countries completed surveys assessing frequency of civic activity participation, motivation for activity, evaluations of activity, and intentions for future civic engagement. Results suggest that youth in both countries were more likely to participate in community-oriented than political civic activities and that youth in both countries found their civic experiences to be meaningful. American youth reported more past civic activities of both types and higher intentions for future community-oriented civic engagement compared to Italian youth. Finally, a model was tested to examine links between peer and school contexts and civic activities and intentions. Findings highlighted that, in both countries, peer and school contexts had a stronger impact on community-oriented than on political civic activity.

Based on representative survey-data, this chapter is concerned with analyzing the potential democratic effects of social media on civic engagement and collective action. We investigate to what degree and how social differences with regard to age, gender, educational background and geographical centrality are expressed in digital forms of civic action: information consumption and triggering of political interest, membership in political Facebook-groups, digital expression of opinions, and digital voluntary work. Previous research and theories are inconclusive with regard to increasing or decreasing social divides in digital participation, depending on the particular personal characteristic and type of digital civic action. Our analyses show that younger persons are more active than older persons in many of the participatory forms. Like many previous studies, we find a certain reproduction of classical gender differences in which men are more active than women. Education is also found to reproduce the classical differences in which more education is connected to higher levels of participation. We also find that centrality of residence differentiates activity levels in certain forms of digital civic action. On the basis of our analyses we claim that the democratic effects of digitalization on civic participation, in the form of reducing classical divides in which groups are active and which groups are passive, are limited. While digital technologies have created many new possibilities for civic action, participation and engagement is still structured by resources, personal traits and social position.

Youth are often involved in multiple organized and civic activities simultaneously, resulting in complex patterns or "networks" of participation. Little research has examined the network structure of adolescents' organized and civic participation and whether these networks vary across communities. Examining activity networks may help identify specific forms of participation that are more widely and strongly connected with other activities, and may thus provide a gateway for becoming multiply involved. Youth (N= 902; Mage = 15.90; 55.7% female) from a rural (n= 476) and non-rural (n= 426) community completed measures assessing engagement in 25 civic and organized activities. Network analysis indicated that activities in the rural community had greater network density relative to the non-rural community. Volunteering to clean up the neighborhood was most central to both networks. Church attendance and community sports were more central for the rural network, whereas protesting and school arts were more central for the non-rural network. These findings suggest that volunteer activities may serve as a "hub" for organized and civic activity participation and highlight similarities and differences in the co-occurrence of activities across two distinct communities.

Catholic and (post)Communist organizations play a crucial role in the political traditions and functioning of civil society both in Italy and in Poland. The Catholic and (post)Communist affiliation of an organization still plays a crucial role from both a social and a political point of view, with a consequent rise of tension between these two ideological and institutional traditions. During the post-WWII period, most civil society organizations in Italy were connected either to the Communist Party or to the Christian Democrats (Biorcio 2007) as a result of a deliberate political effort to influence civil society more broadly. Similarly in Poland, the majority of older civil society organizations were either quangos, officially acknowledged by the Communist regime, or organizations that stemmed from the Catholic Solidarnośc movement (Rose-Ackerman 2008: 54, Leś 2000: 193).

Internet use and civic engagement: A structural equation approach

Introduction. The relevance of the topic is determined through the rationale for the transition of youth civic activity to the digital environment, which forms a new digital civic consciousness and defines digital participation as a fundamentally new format of civic self-determination and youth activity. Theoretical justification. The problem of transition and mutual complementation of civic activity in traditional offline and digital online formats is considered. Both the advantages of digital activism and the contradictions arising from its use, such as distrust of efficiency, lack of resources, etc. are shown. The issue of local certainty of interaction between online and offline forms of activism associated with cultural, political and other conditions is understood. A provision is put forward on local activism as the initial stage of involving young people in civic practices, and the use of digital technologies as the most understandable way for the younger generation. Methods. Empirical data obtained in the course of a sociological survey as part of an intelligence strategy using in-depth interviews. The informants were 14 residents of Yekaterinburg aged 18-25 years. Results and its discussion. The results of the study made it possible to show the predominance of non-political forms of youth civic engagement. The repertoire of civic participation has an expanded character, however, it is mainly associated with the solution of socially significant problems at the local level. The role of social networks and blogging as mechanisms for mobilizing civic position and youth activity is shown. The level of willingness of local authorities to cooperate with youth activists is regarded as rather low. The main model of youth is hybrid activism, built on a combination of online and offline practices, with a fairly pronounced position about the unwillingness to abandon offline activism completely in the direction of digital civic participation.

A growing body of research has demonstrated that Islamic associations have diffusely implemented heterogeneous social programmes across European countries, especially over the past two decades. Recent studies have focused on how Islamic welfare activities and projects have striven against social inequalities concerning Muslims and, sometimes, non-Muslims. Immigration is a central issue in studying Islamic social engagement across European countries. On the continent, Muslims still have limited access to social rights because the majority of them are still immigrants, asylum seekers or refugees. The academic discourse on welfare religious services, especially on the Islamic ones, diverges: some scholars have criticised the contribution of religious organisations in combating social injustice; others have described it as a particular engagement of civil society with poverty and exclusion. Political sciences stress the relevance of these associations acting as mediators between individuals and state institutions. Other scholars have outlined how these associations may improve the quality of democracies. Some scholars describe the negative effects of faith-based welfare services on public welfare systems. Finally, there is no consensus regarding the role of religious organisations in fighting social exclusion. Studies on Islamic welfare engagement in Europe are very recent and do not yet concern all European urban realities. The lack of research in this area is not accidental. The design requirements for a systematic examination of the issue demand a relevant number of intra-disciplinary competences. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative data are difficult to gather and little attention has been focused on institutional factors that may predict forms by which Islamic actors develop social activities in determinate space-temporal contexts. Outcomes of the Islamic welfare engagement are also often neglected. This thesis represents a preliminary effort at providing a complete case-study comparative examination of urban areas in two neglected, but relevant, locations: Switzerland and Italy, two countries that have never been analysed from the aforementioned perspective. For that reason, the purpose of this thesis ix is, indeed, twofold. On the one hand, it aims to describe how Islamic welfare has been organised in four urban contexts not yet analysed (Geneva, Milan, Rome, Zurich) by the literature on this topic. On the other hand, this study aims to analyse the institutional opportunities and constraints that can influence forms of social activities at the local level. To perform my analysis, I use concepts developed in social movement studies, such as institutional opportunity structures. Following this approach, I focus my investigation on three explanatory factors: (1) models of citizenship and migratory regimes, (2) church-state cleavages and the institutional recognition of Islamic organisations and (3) the degree and typology of subsidiarity in welfare systems. Finally, the thesis suggests how Islamic welfare in Europe can have relevant consequences that impact social cohesion. Islamic social services can have contradictory repercussions: on the one hand, they can encourage equal access to social resources for poor citizens and immigrants; conversely, they can produce social fragmentation and increase inequality among different subgroups of the population.

The following study aims at inquiring into the motivations behind young migrants’ volunteerism in civic organizations in Italy, namely in starting and maintaining their engagement (preliminary vs. maintenance phase). The term “young migrants” refers to first and second generation of migrants who deal with two challenges: the transition to adulthood and the acquisition of a cultural identity. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 Sub-Saharan young migrants living in Italy (18-32 years old), 19 of first generation (1G) and 18 of second generation (2G). The Omoto and Snyder’s Volunteer Process Model (VPM, 1995) was used as an underpinning theoretical framework and a guide for the interpretations of the results. The findings indicate that a) motivations included in the VPM are also found for young migrants, b) some of these motivations take particular meaning for young migrants, c) some motivations are not included in the VPM and are specific of this sample. We named these last motivations: social norms, advocacy and ethno-cultural. In addition, some considerations may be advanced regarding the generation and the phase of motivation: 1G migrants are particularly moved by the importance of integration in the Italian context and by the promotion of their ethnic group while 2G migrants reported mostly the desire to understand their roots. The values, the concern for the community and the longing to develop relationships are the motivations for which all young migrants continue to volunteer; however, 1G migrants are also sustained by advocacy and ethno-cultural motivations. Implications and future directions are discussed.

This article examines whether there is gender segmentation in civic participation in Latin America, and whether such segmentation is related to gender differences in political participation. Confirming the findings of other studies, this analysis indicates that there is gender segmentation in civic associational activities, and that men are more involved than women in political activities, except for voting. Among those involved in civic activities, however, women attend meetings more often than men or about equally in all types of activities under consideration, except for sports and recreational pursuits. This highlights the need to differentiate between type and intensity of civic participation and provides empirical evidence that Latin American women have strong community ties through a variety of organizations. The regression analysis shows that civic engagement has a positive effect on political participation but that the magnitude of that effect varies by gender depending on the activity.

Through civic engagement, adolescents can increase community vitality, challenge injustices, and address social problems. Positive youth development (PYD) theory and research has generated knowledge of ecological assets (resources and supports in everyday environments) that foster youth civic engagement. Yet, assets and opportunities are not equally available to all youth. Youth of color in urban high-poverty neighborhoods merit more concerted attention in research on civic development to inform theory, policy, and practice. A primary goal of this monograph is to broaden academic and public discourse about what civic engagement looks like and how it develops for urban youth of color who live in high-poverty neighborhoods. We conducted one time, face-to-face interviews and brief quantitative surveys with 87 youth of color (90% Black and Black multiracial; 59.8% male; ages 12-19) recruited from five youth centers in Rochester, New York, from 2015 to 2016. Interviews elicited youth's perspectives on how they define and experience civic engagement, community problems, connections and discussions to community, and adult supports. We used an inductive qualitative methodology. In Chapter I, we review what is known about civic engagement among urban youth of color. We lay out evidence for ecological assets that support youth civic engagement, aligned with a PYD perspective, and articulate ways to expand beyond PYD to understand youth empowerment and urban contexts. In Chapter II, we summarize national and local contexts that may shape the experiences of urban youth of color in our study. To set the stage for the empirical chapters that follow, we describe our sample, study design, and methodology. In Chapter III, we examine how urban youth of color in Rochester experience community violence and discuss the implications of these experiences for civic development. Youth articulated violence as a serious community problem and powerfully discussed frequent, personal, direct and indirect exposures to violence. Due to fear and lack of safety, some youth strategically disconnected from community and relationships and experienced disempowerment. Others reacted to violence with a tendency toward self-protection. For some, community violence was a catalyst for civic action. In Chapter IV, we investigate how youth defined and experienced civic engagement. Youth's civic participation spanned helping community, engaging politically, participating in school or community organizations, engaging in social and leisure activities, and taking personal responsibility. Youth's civic actions were largely informal and localized. Some civic participation was contextualized as a response to community violence, such as intervening to protect peers from harm. Some youth were not civically engaged. In Chapter V, we map out what civic empowerment looks like for these youth and how civic empowerment links to civic action. Supporting prior theory, we found evidence for emotional, relational, and cognitive dimensions of civic empowerment and experiences of civic disempowerment. Emotional empowerment was most closely aligned with civic action, although any expressions of civic empowerment suggest youth are developing building blocks for civic participation. In Chapter VI, we investigate ecological assets that support youth's civic development. Safe community spaces such as youth centers provided familiarity and comfort, opportunities to forge connections with others, and places to help and be helped. Adults supported youth by enabling youth to feel heard, not judging them, serving as role models, and offering guidance and support. Youth were equally articulate about how adults fail to support or empower them. We conclude that some assets generally support positive development and others specifically foster civic development. In Chapter VII, we integrate findings across chapters into a conceptual model of four distinct pathways of civic development. We systematically examined differences among youth who are disengaged, personally responsible, safely engaged, and broadly engaged. All pathways are adaptive, and youth found different ways to navigate community violence and other adversities. As summarized in Chapter VIII, our study informs theory and future research on civic engagement among urban youth of color in contexts of adversity. We put forward four important elements needed for theory of civic development to be relevant for urban youth of color. Then we offer policy and practice recommendations: (a) investment in safe spaces and violence-reduction policies should be a top priority; (b) youth should be involved in decision-making about solutions to issues of concern to them; (c) civic engagement programs and opportunities should center on local issues and allow for multiple forms of engagement; (d) all youth should be heard and taken seriously by the adults in their lives.