Diversification of diversity: Migrations, cultural pluralism and urban transformations in Palermo (Italy): a case study

Abstract

Italy experienced the transition from a country of emigration to a country of immigration only in the last decade of the 20th century. The extreme heterogeneity of the Italian scene – from the distribution and variety of productive sectors and local economic dimensions, to the geographical, cultural and linguistic varieties – results in an incredibly differentiated background on which the phenomenon of migrations fits as multiplier of diversity. But there are some particular fields in Italy where the challenges of superdiversity appear to be more prominent: the impact on the school system, in terms of linguistic-cultural pluralism; the change in religious belonging and identities; the dynamics of cohesion/marginality in everyday life; and the relationship between spaces and identities in a superdiverse context.