Associations In Italy Research Articles

Bangladeshi migrant associations in Italy: transnational engagement, community formation and regional unity

ABSTRACT Referring to the case studies of two cities in Northern Italy, this article seeks to understand how Bangladeshi migrants use associations to seek transnational “ways of belonging” and “ways of being”. It analyses how this transnational attachment to their home country has played an important role in building their own “community”. The findings reveal that Bangladeshi migrant organizations work to maintain “transnational ways of belonging” by enabling migrants to retain their cultural roots; this is reflected in their observation of festivals, national days, and other practices and rituals. Although, as a relatively new migrant community, they do not share as many economic links through these associations as many other “diasporic” organizations, migrants widely express a sense that these economic connections are with their country of origin. However, there is competition within the community based on regional origin, as well as have many ambivalences and contradictions.

Conditioning Weapons: Ethnography of the Practice of Martial Arts Training

Drawing on the inspiring work by Wacquant about apprenticeship in boxing, I present data generated from a five-year ethnographic study of one Wushu Kung Fu Association in Italy. Drawing on a Bourdieusian version of theories of social practice, the aim is to investigate in depth the relationship between habitus and materials, as it seems an underestimated issue both in Wacquant’s presentation and in most martial arts studies developed from his work. The aim is to explore the relationship between the practitioner and the set of weapons—a chief part of the martial art training—as an endless work of conditioning. To this aim, according to what Wacquant calls “enactive ethnography”, I completely immersed myself inside the fieldwork in order to be able to explore the phenomenon and to personally test its operative mechanism. The challenge here is to enter the theatre of action and, to the highest degree possible, train in the ways of the people studied so as to gain a visceral apprehension of their universe as materials and springboard for its analytic reconstruction. Drawing on the difference between the cognitive, conative, and emotive components of habitus through which, according to Bourdieu, social agents navigate social space and animate their lived world, I show how conditioning works not only on the conative or cognitive components (learning techniques and incorporating kinetic schemes), but how a deeper psychological form of conditioning also comes into play, which aims to neutralize the shock due to the fear generated by the threat of a contusion. It is at this point, therefore, that the affective component of the habitus becomes crucial in constructing a sort of intimacy bond with the tool. The detectable transformation in the habitus of the practitioner, eventually, can be deciphered, starting from the characteristics of the tool that produces, in the ways and limits given by its material features, such a transformation. In the end, I stress the relevance of recognizing the active role of objects in transforming the habitus and I briefly discuss the potentiality of enactive ethnography in analyzing social practices.

Participatory guarantee system, equivalence and quality control in a comparative study on organic certifications systems in Europe and Brazil

Although organic agriculture in Brazil targets mainly local consumers, there is growing demand for research related to commercializing this sector abroad. A study was done in Europe on the perception of entities related to this theme, specifically on Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), the feasibility of equivalence between the countries, and control procedures. An exploratory study was conducted through interviews with five organic certification bodies, two in Switzerland, three in Italy, and with a producer association in Italy. PGS is little known in Europe in general and it is suggested that it be better disseminated in the member countries. PGS has been evaluated positively for reducing certification costs and promoting benefits from a social aspect, but it can fail in organic compliance and in large scale production. There are significant differences that must be overcome in order to establish equivalence, such as the lack of homogeneity among European countries on control procedures, the existence of PGS in Brazilian legislation, lack of wild crop products in Europe, different conversion periods, and the requirement of a higher number of inspections in Brazil. Equivalence is seen as beneficial to both Europe and Brazil, and it would therefore be appropriate to promote its viability. The Brazilian law on organic agriculture is taken as very restrictive and complex.

L’accesso dei ministri di culto islamici negli istituti di detenzione, tra antichi problemi e prospettive di riforma. L’esperienza del Protocollo tra Dipartimento dell’Amministrazione penitenziaria e UCOII

SOMMARIO: 1. L’Islam tra le mura del carcere: le ragioni di un intervento, gli obiettivi del Protocollo - 2. Uno spiraglio di liberta: la fede in regime di detenzione, le garanzie normative e le risposte alla diversita religiosa - 3. Mediatori o ministri di culto? Un ruolo ‘sospeso’ tra definizioni giuridiche e prassi - 4. Visitate i detenuti: La questione dell’ingresso negli istituti detentivi, criticita applicative e novita del Protocollo - 5. Conclusioni.Granting Islamic religious ministers admission to prisons, amid long-lasting issues and reformation perspectives. The Agreement between the Prison Administration Department and the Islamic Communities Union.ABSTRACT: As religious diversity in Italian prisons grows, accommodating prisoners’ religious needs tries legal paradigms and instruments out. In 2015 the Prison Administration Department signed an agreement with UCOII, one of the largest Islamic associations in Italy, in order to grant admission in prisons to intercultural mediators and religious ministers. This article seeks to situate the covenant in the wider context of the Italian legal protection of religious freedom in prison, highlighting three main purposes of the agreement: providing Islamic prisoners with religious assistance, enforcing rehabilitative programs and combating violent radicalization in jail. After two years the experience has shown good evidences. Nonetheless, contended issues still remain unsettled. While evaluating feasible solutions, the article advocates a legislative intervention that could assess criteria and procedures for religious ministers’ access to prisons fulfilling the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

Dynamics of identity and otherness within intercultural feminist practices in Italy

ABSTRACTDrawing on fieldwork carried out in 2012–2013, this article explores the dynamics of identity and otherness within selected women’s intercultural associations in Italy in the light of the following issue: how to acknowledge differences among women – based primarily on ‘race’, ethnicity, legal status/citizenship, class and age – while maintaining a common political project. This article focuses on the contexts, which facilitate the formation of such a project by promoting the contesting of rigid categorization of women on grounds of nationality or culture. It first focuses on what is referred to as ‘a starting point a bit displaced’, second on the desire to move beyond divisions on nationality grounds and third on the concept of hybridity as a bridge between women. At the same time, the article confronts those issues that might conceal power differentials among women and argues in favour of a notion of feminist intercultural reflexivity.

Intercultural Feminist Practices in Italy: Challenging Stereotyped and Othering Images of Migrant Women

Feminist postcolonial authors criticised the tendency of mainstream western feminism to represent 'third world' women as necessarily less emancipated than western women and to describe their cultural practices in an othering way, without holding their own culture up to the same scrutiny. From this idea stems a paternalistic and patronising attitude that locates western women in a “position to liberate their less fortunate sisters, especially those in the 'Third World'”. (hooks, 2000: 45). In light of these reflections, this article investigates to what extent selected women’s intercultural associations in Italy have been able to counter dominant discourses that see migrant women as necessarily needy and deprived or as a sign of cultural difference. The research confronts the associations' mission statements with the practices and relationships that emerged from the interviews. It focuses first on power sharing within the associations and the relevance of patronizing attitudes on the part of Italian-born women. Secondly the article explores how associations addressed the notion of cultural difference by focusing on the specific issues of Islamic veiling practices and female genital mutilations. Finally it investigates the possible value of cross-cultural comparisons on practices detrimental to women in the promotion of intercultural feminist practices.

Organizing women migrants: The Filipino and Cape Verdean women’s associations in Rome

Migrant women’s associations in Italy did not simply emerge from informal networks. The Filipino and Cape Verdean women’s associations in Rome are examples of the results of multiple factors that contributed to the strategy of self-organization established by migrant women with the intention of empowering themselves. An awareness of their unique position as women from mostly-female migrant groups, a lack of institutional bodies prepared to assist them, and the leadership of individual women were key aspects in the formation of the first migrant women’s associations in Rome. Gender and nationality were the main components of migrant women’s organizing in the first mostly-female migrant groups.

Impact of control strategies for Varroa destructor on colony survival and health in northern and central regions of Italy

SummaryA comparison among four different summer strategies for the control of Varroa destructor was carried out from summer 2010 until spring 2011, in collaboration with national beekeepers associations in Italy. A total of 170 colonies located in Lazio, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto were involved. The control strategies included chemical treatments and biotechnical methods (thymol, formic acid, brood removal and brood interruption). In each colony, bee samples were collected before and after treatment to assess the quantity of Varroa destructor and Nosema spp. and the presence of the main honey bee viruses. Colony strength was assessed several times during the trial. The most effective strategies for maintaining low V. destructor infestation levels and higher colony survival in spring in all regions were brood interruption (caging of the queen for the duration of a brood cycle), followed by brood removal. Brood interruption was the only treatment which yielded a decrease in varroa infestation rates (from 4.36 mites/100 bees (5.61 SD) before treatment to 3.24 mites/100 bees (4.0 SD) after treatment, while the highest average overwintering index (ratio of spring vs. autumn bees) and a lower virus prevalence was observed in the brood removal group. Analyses for virus presence showed that in spring 2011 the most prevalent virus was DWV. Quantification of Nosema spp. spores showed that only N. ceranae was present, with regional differences in infection levels.

Infermieri italiani e sudamericani a confronto: una ricerca del Centro di Eccellenza per la Cultura e la Ricerca Infermieristica

In this study we describe the results of a survey on a sample of Italian and South American nurses registered at the IPASVI Nursing Board in Rome. This study was jointly supported by the Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship in Rome, the Transcultural Nursing Association in Italy, and by the Centre for Advanced Studies on the Humanisation of Care and Social Health of the University of Bologna (Branch of Forli). We included nurses working in different health sectors across the territory of Rome and asked them to reflect on the processes of healthcare and integration of the health professionals who work in a multicultural society. With an increasingly heterogeneous population, both in terms of health professionals working within the health system and of citizens seeking healthcare services, nurses should be able to design and provide culturally appropriate services and care.

Cohesion without participation: immigration and migrants' associations in Italy

ABSTRACT Italian migration and citizenship policies tend to deny the fact that immigration in Italy is now a structural phenomenon embedded in the labour market and Italian society. The first part of Mantovan's article examines this denial in terms of the apparent difficulty many in Italian society have in accepting the social changes caused by Italy's rapid transition from a country of emigration to one of immigration. She argues that this reluctance to accept the fact of immigration is exacerbated by Italy's fragile national social cohesion, which has led to policy attempts to buttress social cohesion with respect to immigrants' relationship to Italian society. The Italian version of social cohesion is based on an ‘implicit model’ of immigrant integration and a citizenship regime defined by jus sanguinis. The second part of her paper evaluates Italian social cohesion as to how it manages the social changes caused by immigration, and looks at the evolution and characteristics of immigrants' participation in migrant associations. The principal measure adopted, that is, to include selected, co-opted migrant representatives from immigrant groups in consultative and advisory bodies, remained too dependent on the Italian authorities and voluntary organizations. These political migrants' associations ultimately failed, and led immigrants to withdraw and form their own cultural associations that better met their needs. Accordingly, the measures taken to promote migrants' participation through immigrants' associations functioned more as a mechanism to reduce ethnic complexity and the Otherness represented by migrants rather than as a viable, long-term means of facilitating their access to Italian citizenship. Overall, Italian policies have weakened social cohesion by reproducing and reinforcing structural inequalities among immigrants.

Immigrants and transnational engagement in the diaspora: Ghanaian associations in Italy and the UK

Collective remittances are a particular kind of flow, which is gaining more and more attention. It puts into light the role of diaspora associations in promoting the development of the origin countries. The aim of the article is to analyze how diaspora associations cope with development issues and the impacts of these activities in terms of migrants' new forms of citizenship. It draws attention on the relationship between diaspora and transnationalism stressing that, nowadays, the immaterial dimension of ethnic belonging encompasses also a material dimension made of cross-border connections; thus, allowing migrants to participate on the both shores of migration. Using the concept of the Political Opportunity Structure, the article shows the role played by the host country on the way migrants organize themselves and on how they act as citizens at home by engaging in development actions. The comparative approach puts into evidence that the different characteristics of Ghanaian migrants in Italy and in the UK shape transnational development actions but in a different way than one would expect: the relative lack of integration seems to stimulate migrants to better development actions at home since, in so doing, they can be recognized as actors also in the place where they live.

Healthcare Governance and Voluntary Associations in Italy: an Overview

This article develops a theoretical and empirical understanding of the governance processes between voluntary organizations and public health institutions in Italy. In theory, governance process allows to mitigate coordination failures between the public and voluntary agencies and to improve service delivery through community engagement. The article shown that governance between public and voluntary sector can produce very different levels of democratization and improvement of health and social programs. In some conditions, it may be that valorizing the voluntary sector can effectively renew and improve health policies, while in others the exact reverse may happen. The article offers an analysis of the main factors that influenced this result.

Fighting for the cures of rare genetic diseases: worthy ideas and promising results demand for strategic research management and for integration of competences and efforts

The fight against genetic diseases, whose aim is the amelioration of the quality and prospect of life of the patients, poses enormous challenges due to several well-known issues such as the rarity of the diseases, the scarcity of financial resources and the lack of knowledge/interest from major stakeholders of the healthcare sector. To cope with this complex and multifaceted problem, in 1990 a patient association in Italy (UILDM) founded Telethon whose mission is to advance scientific research on muscular dystrophy and all other genetic diseases with the ultimate goal of paving the way for the cures. To this end, Telethon has set an articulated strategy whose pillars are: strategic funding of science, selection of the most promising and worthy research ideas, efficient management of funded projects and exploitation of research results. Indeed, in 22 years of activity, Telethon has invested about 354 million Euros, funding 2,375 projects on more than 450 genetic diseases. Notably, Telethon research spans all steps of the research path from the most basic and preliminary phases to the clinical translation, and is increasing our understanding of many genetic diseases, as demonstrated by a wealth of high impact publications. Moreover, clinical trials for different diseases are on-going or in the process to start. This strategy has demonstrated itself as effective in advancing biomedical research; nonetheless, it is clear that the completion of the path to make therapies available to the patients requires resources and expertise that are beyond Telethon’s capacity and that typically reside within the competence of the pharmaceutical industry. This awareness has recently led Telethon to sign an agreement with a major pharmaceutical company that will allow gene therapies, performed at the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, to enter the last phases of the developmental process for seven different genetic diseases. The success of this agreement set the course of what is acclaimed as “collaborative model” in the field of rare diseases. To date, there are several basic or pre-clinical research projects in Telethon’s portfolio that constitute a reservoir of ideas and knowledge on many different genetic diseases and deserve exploitation. In this perspective, partnerships with pharmaceutical industries and with other stakeholders will not only lead to the completion of the path for the most advanced research projects but also free-up resources to be invested in research activities at earlier stages of development, thus feeding a virtuous circle.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Fine Arts by Morton D. Paley

Book Reviews Morton D. Paley. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Fine Arts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Pp. 276. 28 Ill. $99.00. In 1802 Coleridge writes teasingly to his wife that in London he is “quite a man offashion—so many titled acquaintances—& handsome Carriages stop­ ping at my door—& fine Cards—and then I am such an exquisite Judge of Music, & Painting—& pass criticisms on furniture & chandeliers—& pay such very handsome Compliments to all Women of Fashion / that I do verily believe, that if I were to stay 3 months in town & have tolerable health & spirits, I should be a Thing in Vogue” (CL 2:789). He is 29, living in bachelor’s quarters in Covent Garden, writing for The Morning Post, and getting around to dinners, clubs, operas, galleries, and concert halls. His presentation of himself as a celebrity judge of music and painting may be tongue-in-cheek in 1802, but two years later, when Morton Paley takes up his account, this fancy has become a reality: Coleridge indeed invents him­ self as “the very tonish Poet & Jemmy Jessamy fine Talker in Town.” Paley’s fascinating account of how Coleridge, already famous as a poet and political analyst, expands his expertise into pictorial and sculptural art, through the guidance of Sir George Beaumont and then through his travels and associations in Italy, brings a new dimension to Coleridge’s professional life. Paley discovers new evidence of Coleridge’s European renown in diaries of visitors to Rome around the time of Coleridge’s six-month stay. Ar­ riving on December 30, 1805, after seventeen months of lucrative service in Malta as Under-Secretary to Sir Alexander Ball and subsequent excur­ sions through Sicily and Naples, Coleridge launched into a whirl ofvisits to galleries and collections. Paley’s useful map of the Spanish Steps area from 1806 (56) marks the locations of the international painters and sculptors who rented studios within easy walking distance of each other. One who “formed an intimate friendship with Coleridge” was the young artist, Michele Migliarini (1779-1865), later an “authority on Egyptian and Etrus­ can antiquities.” His notes about Coleridge and their “many evenings to­ gether in delightful conversation” (quoting from Samuel Carter Hall) were burned by Napoleon’s troops, along with “all he possessed,” in the con­ flagration in Moscow in 1811 (52—53). Robert Gosman reports that Coleridge [was] “[r]emarkable for his hatred of French & France. Drank SiR, 51 (Summer 2012) TH 278 BOOK REVIEWS brandy & water” (56). Washington Allston, whose work and reputation are the subjects of two chapters, became Coleridge’s close friend at this time and called Coleridge a “Plato in the groves of the Academy” (32); their re­ ciprocal tenderness and support continued in London, Bristol, and Clifton in later years. Along with viewing the sculptures and paintings of Thorvaldsen, Canova, and Kauffmann (28), Coleridge had access to the splendid collection of Lucien Bonaparte, whom Coleridge probably met through the von Humboldts and who may have warned Coleridge about his own brother Napoleon’s plans to intern him (58-59). Paley is able to enumerate the paintings in that collection as it was in 1806, as likewise he finds the exact paintings in the guidebook to the Uffizi that Coleridge would have marveled at in his two week visit to Florence, though his notes were lost in this perilous war time, or perhaps jettisoned at sea on his rough crossing home (64). Grand English gentlemen such as the Marquis of Exeter at Burghley House (1810), Paul Cobb Methuen at Corsham House (1816), and the Marquis of Lansdowne at Bowood (1814) also welcomed the once fire­ brand Coleridge into their private collections when they heard that the poet was in their neighborhoods; in some cases they urged him to stay for days at a time to enjoy the paintings and gardens at his leisure (77—83). At Bowood Coleridge was “ ‘bagged,’ brought into the library, and persuaded to stay for a couple of nights.” Lady Lansdowne reported that “‘Coleridge has been talking for two whole days’” (82n67). This new evidence of ce­ lebrity shines the spotlight on Coleridge as a major European personage who aroused excitement as he traveled in search ofpaintings...

El partenariado público y privado

El artículo examina el delicado tema de la evolución de la disciplina de la asociación (partenariado) públicoprivada institucionalizada en Italia. Tras unas breves observaciones generales sobre esta institución, el autor se concentra en la gestión que hacen los servicios públicos locales de la misma, analizando en particular el paso del artículo 23 bis del Decreto-ley n.° 112 de 2008 a las reformas legislativas del 2011 y de enero 2012, a favor de una más amplia privatización y liberalización de estos servicios en línea con la intención expresada por el Gobierno italiano en la Unión Europea en octubre de 2011. En las conclusiones se pone de manifiesto la cuestión de la compatibilidad constitucional de una decisión que contrasta con el resultado del referéndum del 12 y 13 de junio de 2011 que, independientemente del conocimiento de los votantes, ha expresado sus deseos de derogar los artículos a favor de la competencia, de acuerdo con el artículo 23 bis del Decreto-Ley n.° 112 del 2008 (y modificaciones posteriores) y en su reglamento de aplicación. Servicios público locales (Partenariado) colaboración público-privada, institucionalizado. Competición.

Smoking in movies and adolescent smoking: cross-cultural study in six European countries

AimTo investigate whether the association between exposure to smoking in movies and smoking among youth is independent of cultural context.MethodCross-sectional survey of 16 551 pupils recruited in Germany, Iceland, Italy,...

The relationship between ambient particulate matter and respiratory mortality: a multi-city study in Italy

The association of air pollutants with natural and respiratory mortality has been consistently reported. However, several aspects of the relationship between particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm (PM(10)) and respiratory mortality require further investigation. The aim of the present study was to assess the PM(10)-respiratory mortality association in Italy and examine potentially susceptible groups. All deaths from natural (n=276,205) and respiratory (n=19,629) causes among subjects aged ≥ 35 yrs in 10 northern, central and southern Italian cities in 2001-2005 were included in the study. Pollution data for PM(10), nitrogen dioxide and ozone were also obtained. A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was carried out. Different cumulative lags were selected to analyse immediate, delayed, prolonged and best-time effects of air pollution. The shape of the exposure-response curve was analysed. Age, sex, chronic conditions and death site were investigated as potential effect modifiers. We found a 2.29% (95% CI 1.03-3.58%) increase in respiratory mortality at 0-3 days lag. The increase in respiratory mortality was higher in summer (7.57%). The exposure-response curve had a linear shape without any threshold. Sex and chronic diseases modified the relationship between particular matter (PM) and respiratory mortality. The effect of PM on respiratory mortality was stronger and more persistent than that on natural mortality. Females and chronic disease sufferers were more likely to die of a respiratory disease caused by air pollution than males and healthy people.

Opting for DBS: The Role of Patients’ Associations between Scientific and Humanistic Knowledge

Opting for DBS: The Role of Patients’ Associations between Scientific and Humanistic Knowledge

The Industrial Cycle of Milan as an Accurate Leading Indicator for the Italian Business Cycle

A coincident business cycle indicator for the Milan area is built on the basis of a monthly industrial survey carried out by Assolombarda, the largest territorial entrepreneurial association in Italy. The indicator is extracted from three time series concerning the production level and the domestic and foreign order book as declared by some 250 Assolombarda associates.

Realizing Migration and Development in the Philippines: Charting New Policies, Perspectives and Partnerships

This executive summary presents the highlights and outcomes of the Migrants' Associations and Philippine Institutions for Development (MAPID) Project. Started in 2008, the MAPID Project is a three-year, three-phase (research, capacity building and dissemination) and three-country (Philippines, Italy and Spain) initiative to foster the understanding of the migration-development nexus and to promote the partnership of Philippine government institutions and migrants' associations in Italy and Spain to support development in the Philippines. The summary has four parts: background of the project, a description of the MAPID project, research highlights, capacity building highlights, and conclusion and recommendations.