Learning by sharing and integration of second-generation: the Italian case

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to show how - apart from rhetoric about interculturalism and good integration practices - today's second generations in Italy are still facing stereotypes or outright discrimination. Comparison with historical minorities and with internal migration has left little trace in the memory of many Italians of knowledge of, and ability to manage, relations with otherness in the daily practices of many institutions (from schools to social-health services). It is a situation of “suspension of memory” delaying or negatively influencing insertion processes: in other words, the assumption that people learn from history and successfully repeat today policies which have been implemented in the past is contradicted in everyday practice. And second generations are the living proof of this lack of knowledge transfer. The academic, socialisation and identity problems facing the children of immigration today could have been reduced if teachers, educators and social workers had benefitted from experience of the past.