Street Level Bureaucrats Between Frustrations, Powerlessness, Bottom-up and Resilience Processes

Abstract

In this paper the main outcomes of four researches carried out from 2014 to 2021 in three Italian regions (Abruzzo, Marche and Tuscany) will be shown, focused on the migrant's integration processes. In these researches social workers, educators, schools and L2 teachers, Intercultural mediators who work in the field of migration were interviewed about their difficulties in their daily work. The reading key use to understand their difficulties was the street level bureaucrats theory of Lipsky. Thanks to their statements, it was possible to better understand the importance of the role of the context that affects their work in providing services and how the changes of migration and welfare policies are very important in the influencing of relationship with migrant people. Their strengths and weaknesses will be highlighted. In all the researches those professionals showed about their frustration because of the politicians' decisions to cut or to limit migration and welfare services in a framework characterized by a lack of inclusive paths' programming. However, these professionals can play an important role of change in migration's local policies, if they are supported by researchers and Institutions. Indeed, in one of the researches their points of view about the bad consequences funding cuts to migration policies were used to propose to a Regional Councillor of Abruzzo to finance migration policies again, previously deleted from her predecessor and she have done it. So in this case a bottom-up process was effective. Another important factor that emerged concerns the attitude of these professionals to understand the complexity of the mix of international and local migration policies and their skill to propose virtual improvements in order to provide a better service to their users.