Final report, developed within the framework of work package 3 "Definition of intercultural competences to be trained on informal and non-formal environments".

1. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMAL
INTERCULTURAL TRAINING
ITINERARIES
P4I - Playing for Interculturality
Ref. 518475-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP
Version 1 (2012)
CNIPA PUGLIA (Coord.)

2. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMAL INTERCULTURAL TRAINING ITINERARIES
Work Package 3
DEFINITION OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES TO BE TRAINED ON INFORMAL AND NON FORMAL
ENVIRONMENTS
DELIVERABLE 4
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEVELPMENT OF INFORMAL INTERCULTURAL TRAINING ITINERARIES
P4I - PLAYING FOR INTERCULTURALITY.
Ref. 518475-LLP-1-2011-1-ES- GRUNDTVIG-GMP
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of
www.p4i-project.eu
the information contained thereinThis project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
p4i@inveslan.com
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for
any use which may be made of the information contained therein
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 2
II. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................. 3
III. REPORTS FROM THE PARTNERS ..................................................................................................... 4
IV. MAIN KNOWLEDGE ...................................................................................................................... 5
4.1 SUMMARY OF DESK RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 5
A. SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE ................................................................................................................. 7
B. ANTHROPOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ........................................................................................ 23
C. EDUCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ................................................................................................... 42
D. LAW KNOWLEDGE .................................................................................................................... 49
E. GEOPOLITICAL KNOWLEDGE .................................................................................................. 62
F. PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................................. 67
G. HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE ................................................................ 73
5. REPORT ON SURVEY CONDUCTED FOCUS GROUP ................................................................. 78
5.1 OBJECTIVES OF SURVEY CONDUCTED FOCUS GROUP ......................................................... 78
5.2 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 79
5.3 SURVEY ON FOCUS GROUP ...................................................................................................... 80
6. INTERCULTURAL SKILLS................................................................................................................ 105
6.1 THEORY AND DEFINITION OF INTERCULTURAL SKILLS............................................................ 105
6.2 INTERCULTURAL SKILLS FOR THE SOCIAL GAME .................................................................... 110
7. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMAL INTERCULTURAL TRAINING
ITINERARIES ...................................................................................................................................... 112
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................ 115

4. I. INTRODUCTION
2
The study below is the result and the synthesis of a nationwide survey conducted by members of
the LLP Grundtvig project called Playing for Interculturality. This work is done as part of Work
Package 3 of a project that has 7 work packages, each of which is functional with respect to the
other.
The organization and implementation WP3 was done by the Italian partner CNIPA Apulia and was
built during the first half of 2012.
The aim of the project is to create a social game in 3D that would allow adults to learn key skills,
playing.
This paper aims to define the intercultural skills necessary to the trainers to interact and learn by
playing, culturally and linguistically different adults in informal and / or non-formal, focusing on
aspects of interpersonal relationships in pluralism.
Furthermore, after a careful examination of the works received from all partners and conducted at
national and local level, the recommendations adopted will be universally valid, but here, useful
above all to the manager of WP 4 and the entire group of partners, to develop informal
intercultural training itineraries to build a social game, thanks to which, hopefully, adults of different
cultures and located in different countries can, thanks to network, interact and learn through play.
Key competences for lifelong learning related to the recommendation adopted by the European
Parliament and Council 18 December 2006 that part of a process that began following the
European Council in Lisbon in 2000 and known as the 'Lisbon Strategy' , which has as its ultimate
objective of making Europe 'the knowledge-based economy more competitive and dynamic
knowledge.
Key competences for lifelong learning are:
1. Communication in the mother tongue;
2. Communication in foreign languages;
3. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
4. Digital competence;
5. Learning to learn;
6. Social and civic competences;
7. Spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship;
8. Cultural awareness and expression.

5. II. METHODOLOGY
3
To develop the research Guidelines were drawn up "THEORY OF SOCIAL GAMING DEVICES:
Intercultural MEETING" to which all the Project Partners have referred. It’s been asked everyone to
lead:
A Research Desk that each partner has carried out in their own country to:
a. Understand the phenomenon of interculturality and its dynamics and future
developments;
b. Determine what skills are necessary for intercultural trainers to be able to transfer
knowledge (key competences) to teach at informal and non-formal level.
A review on the Focus Group aimed at understanding the popularity of the product that you will
create and define, then, the recommendations to be given to the partnership to continue the
work.
Some deadlines were established to send material to the WP3 leader. The paper material,
collected inside pre-elaborated.

6. III. REPORTS FROM THE PARTNERS
4
The works received by Partners with which we produced this text, can be consulted in web site for
further deepenings, and are listed and explained here below:
P1 - INVESLAN and P2 - EIMD (ES)
The two Spanish Partners collaborated to realize a Spanish Desk Research and a study on the Focus
Group lead on 6 adults. The work contains considerations and recommendations.
P3 - SQLearn (GR)
The Greek partner has agreed with the Leader of WP3 a study entitled Intercultural ABOUT
LEARNING & SKILLS IN AN INFORMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT COMETENCES - INPUT FOR GAME
DESIGN. To do this he enlisted the help of the British partner. The paper is accompanied by a focus
group conducted on a sample of 10 adult trainers.
P4 - C.N.I.P.A. PUGLIA (IT)
Leader of Wp3, they lead a deepened and detailed Desk Research and an study on a Focus
Group of 15 adults from different ethnic groups. The study is complete and contains
recommendations, content and conclusions.
P5 - SOCIEDADE PORTUGUESA DE INOVACAO (PT)
They realized a deepened Desk Research on the composition of the population of Portugal.
P6 - I.N.C.S.M.P.S. (RO)
The Rumanian Partner realized a detailed National Desk Research. The work contains remarks and
recommendations.
P7 - LEARNit3D (UK)
They collaborated with the Greek Partner to realize the study entitled: LEARNING ABOUT
INTERCULTURAL SKILLS & COMPETENCES IN AN INFORMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT – INPUT FOR
GAME DESIGN. Desk Research and a study on a Focus Group of 10 adults.

7. IV. MAIN KNOWLEDGE
5
4.1 SUMMARY OF DESK RESEARCH
Europe today counts more than 13 million migrants so the issue of integration into a unified political
vision has become a strategic priority for the growth of society, but also for the European economy.
The question, then, is not whether Europe should embrace migration, but rather how it should
manage the integration. A set of directions is to develop a common standard of citizenship, which
gradually extends responsibilities and rights of EU citizens to all those who reside there legally. It is
worth noting that the EU member states already have plans for common citizenship policies and
inclusion, for example, the Treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam, the Tampere Declaration (which
in 1999 recognized the need for a common policy of 'Union asylum and immigration), the Lisbon
Agenda, Thessalonica, the Hague, and the Standards Council of Europe on human rights and
equality.
There remain, however, differences not easy to reconcile between countries, especially as regards
the fight against illegal migration. Just remember that the European Council in Seville, Spain in 2002
(president in charge) proposed a hard line, which provided, among other things, to cut aid to
countries that do not intend to collaborate in the flow, enjoying the consent of Italy, United
Kingdom, Netherlands and Denmark. But that option was strongly opposed, for humanitarian and
political reasons, from France, Sweden and Luxembourg, eventually leading to a compromise that
rewards countries that cooperate to control the flow, but without penalizing the others.
The European Union suffers from strong dynamics in both migratory flows coming from inside and
outside. The data reported above, do not bear the overall situation of Europe, but certainly give an
idea of how each country must deal with a phenomenon that also does not have a unified and
effective regulation. From what has been learned, it is clear that migration dynamics over the past
decade has experienced a strong surge: Italy has reached a 10% of migrants, Spain 12%. The
finding is disturbing connotations if one takes into account the fact that both countries for historical
and cultural past years did not know the migration phenomenon before. Portugal 4.7% of migrants
and Romania who knows the reverse phenomenon with a percentage above 15% of the
population has emigrated abroad. The demographic composition of the immigrant population in
Italy sees the prevalence of ethnic groups from North Africa and Eastern Europe, in Spain in
addition to these flows migrants are coming from Latin America as well as in Portugal, the
Romanians travel to Italy, Spain, Canada and low percentage in the rest of Europe. This study,
however, does not take into account the Chinese.

8. The flows are as sudden as it is inadequate the answer from the EU countries to face the
phenomenon with their own welfare policies now outdated. Economic systems persist unwilling to
absorb the massive work power and people are not well informed and reluctant to integration and
social equality.
6
As regards the United Kingdom, its colonial past and its multi-ethnic culture for centuries now,
absorbing the phenomenon of migration in a less traumatic.
Ethnic groups have lived together for years with history and anthropological structure totally
different.
The complex problems related to the phenomenon of migration, and more generally, handling of
people are highlighting needs to be satisfied as follow:
 In social terms, living conditions and access to resources must be provided for the family
(houses, use of services for all devices, facilitating ...).
 On the structural and belonging, access to citizenship for the children of migrants must be
provided, because only then can it be guaranteed full participation, equal rights and duties,
identification with the host country.
 On the linguistic and cultural level, both devices must be provided to facilitate the learning of
the new language - and culture - both moments of recognition, promotion, exchange of
language and culture of origin.
 In terms of educational inclusion procedures for reception must be made uniform,
preventing, for example, cases of "delay", defining devices and resources necessary to
deliver effective and targeted responses to specific teaching problems.
 in terms of relationship and '"interaction among groups", we must act in educational services,
in education, in-school gatherings, so that these places become meeting places between
childhoods and adolescences, free from stereotypes, closures, mutual distrust.
The migration has become a structural element in the European society and intends, therefore to
widen over time, until deeply and irreversibly alter the relationship between women and men of the
territory. Everyone has to work and do their part to eliminate the phenomena of exclusion as well as
representing high social costs cause repercussions from the human point of view, considerable.

9. A. SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE
7
ITALY
Incoming migration is an almost structural phenomenon in Italian society, so it is intended to last
and increase until it deeply modifies the relationships between men and women in the territory.
Its stabilization has consequently led to a steady increase in family reunifications and, therefore, the
presence of so-called "second and even third generation" of young migrants in schools, a
phenomenon which see, however, a sharp rise in relation to adopted children or born in mixed
couples.
According to Istat latest data on 1st January 2011, 4,570,317 foreigners are living in Italy, 7.5% of the
overall population, an increase of 7.9% (335,000 people) compared to the previous year, slowing
down compared to the increase recorded in 2009 (+343,000) and in general the lowest since 2006.
The increase of foreign population that occurred during 2010 is due not only to new arrivals but also
to a positive natural balance of about 73000 units (resulting from 78000 new births compared to just
five thousand deaths). The acquisition of Italian citizenship is decreasing with nearly 66000
foreigners. The phenomenon of naturalization, although steadily increasing in recent years (+11.1%
compared to 2009), is still limited in our country. To compare, consider that in France only in 2005
and 2006, a total of 303 000 new citizenships were granted.
The foreign population has a much lower average age than the Italian one, in 2009 minors were
932,675 (22% of total) while foreigners born in Italy (the so-called second generation) were already
573,000, that means 13.5 % of the overall number of strangers. In particular, foreigners born in Italy in
2010 represented 14% of total number of births, an incidence approximately twice the one of the
total population of foreign residents.
Analysing the areas of origin, it can be seen that in recent years there has been a strong increase in
flows from Eastern Europe, which have exceeded those from the countries of North Africa, very
strong up to the nineties. This is particularly due to the rapid increase of the Romanian community,
in particular in 2007 that has roughly doubled, from 342,000 to 625,000 people and thus
representing the largest foreign community in Italy. This is probably due to the entry of Romania into
the European Union which has encouraged the flows and linguistic affinity. Until 1 st January 2011,
the Romanians, with nearly one million residents, are the first foreign community (more than a fifth
of foreigners in Italy).
Beside them, the main foreign communities in Italy are Albanian, Moroccan, Chinese and
Ukrainian. Until 1st January 2011, about half of foreign residents come from countries of Eastern

10. Europe, in particular a quarter of the countries of the region that joined the European Union
between 2004 and 2007.
The distribution is strongly non-homogeneous in the Italian territory: 35% of foreigners live in the
North-west, 26.3% in the Northeast, 25.2% in Central Italy and 13.5%. in Southern islands. In 2010,
8
however, as early as 2009, the increase of foreign population was larger in the South than in the
Centre-North.
Such changes require society to equip adequately to address this new challenge by developing
new initiatives and actions so that our citizens get used to co-living in a cross-cultural environment
on one side and guide and support the migrants on the other side in their way to interact with the
hosting society.
SPAIN
Few countries in Europe have experienced such a major change in its demographic configuration
as Spain in the last two decades. In 1981 the percentage of foreigners in Spain was 0,5%, the
majority coming from other European countries. Between 1986 and 1999 Spain started receiving
more people from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. In 2001, Spain stopped being a country of
emigration to be an immigration country. Between 2001 and 2012 the percentage of foreigners in
Spain went from 3,3% to 12%, changing significantly the social structure of the Spanish society in
terms of cultural diversity.
Immigration in Spain in the last decade:
On a first stage, the main reason for that significant increment of immigration in Spain was the
economic growth and the need for low-skilled work force that Spain experienced at the beginning
of the 20th century. On a second phase, in addition to new arrivals, the numbers increased due to
family reunification.
During the last decade the percentage and origin of foreigners has diversified. In 1998, the number
of foreigners from the European Union constituted 41,3% of total residents born outside Spain. In
January 2011, the percentage decreased to 20%. The main foreigner groups in Spain in 2011 were
Rumanians (895.970, 15% of foreign population), Moroccans (783.137, 13,4%), British (397.535, 6,8%),
Ecuadorians (306.380, 6,2%) and Colombians (244.670, 4,7%).
The nationalities that have increased more in 2011 are Pakistan (79.626, increased a 13,5%) and
China (175.813, increased a 5,2%).
Since 2010 and due to the economic crisis, the percentage of immigrant population is decreasing.
As a result some people are leaving the country (going back to their countries or moving to others)
and less people are immigrating into Spain. The main groups leaving are Latin Americans
(Argentina, Bolivia, Peru) and from other European countries such as Poland or Italy.

11. Another interesting phenomenon currently taking place is that Spain is becoming an emigration
country again. The economic crisis being the main reason why especially young Spanish workers
are emigrating.
9
ROMANIA
Romanian communities live with various other ethnic communities, cultural traditions, linguistic and
religious specific. Regions with the greatest ethnic diversity in Romania are Transylvania, Banat,
Bucovina and Dobrogea. In areas with less ethnic diversity, Oltenia and Moldova, there is the
slightest opening to ethnic pluralism and to the political. Coldest attitudes towards Hungarians in
Romania occur in areas where they are least present (Oltenia, Valahia, Dobrogea, Moldova) and
the positive perception of them is recorded in Transylvania. However, the cold attitudes of
Hungarians in Romania Romanians to show the areas where Romanians are the least present
(Harghita, Covasna)
According with Romanian Census of October 20, 2011 the number and proportion of each ethnic
group in Romania is presented in Table 1.
Table 1
Ethnicity number % Ethnicity number %
Romania 16,869,81 88,6 Turkish 28,226 0,1
ns 6
Hungaria 1,237,746 6,5 Lipoveni 23,864 0,1
ns (Russians)
Gypsies 619,007 3,2 Tatars 20,464 0,1
Ukrainians 51,703 0,3 Others 96,040 0,5
Germans 36,884 0,2 Undeclare 59,186 0,3
d
Total 19.042.936
During the past one hundred years Romania was predominantly a country of emigration, with a
rather impressive record regarding the number of persons involved, the outcomes and the varieties
of migratory arrangements. Shortly after the 1989 revolution, Romania's population was over 23
million inhabitants. But since 1991, it entered a gradual downward trend, currently reaching about
21 million inhabitants- officially (according of 2002 Census) or 19 million unofficially (according of
2011 Census’s provisional results). This is due to free movement in the States living abroad, but rather
low birth rate.

12. Canada has a Romanian community of about 150,000 people (December 2007). Romania is
ranked fifth in the world among source countries of immigrants to Canada.
In May 2009 the Romanian registered at Spanish town halls was over 720,000, of which over 250,000
pay social contributions.
10
In July 2010, the EU Member States were about 2.5 to 2,700,000 Romanian immigrants. The 2.8
million immigrants under observation by the World Bank in 2010, Romania ranks 18 the world in
terms of immigration.
The slow and socially burdensome transition from a centrally planned economy to an effectively
functioning market economy (over the past one and a half decades) has provided another
impetus for Romanians to search for employment abroad. Emigration, combined with an ageing
population, will likely make Romania turn to labour immigration in the future. Here the country will
face considerable challenges, from finding a way of managing – and perhaps reversing – the
outflow of workers to developing policies for managing the reception and integration of large
numbers of immigrants, an area in which it has little experience.
Emigration in Romania.
About 45,000 foreigners are present in the local labor market, of which about 30,000 workers.
The number of immigrants in Romania remains low (10,000 in 2008 to 5 percent more than last year).
Total number of work permits issued to foreigners in 2008 was 76,700, up 30 percent more than in
2007)1 In May 2009, in Romania there were about 200,000 Kurds.
PORTUGAL
According to Estanque, class structure in Portugal has suffered relevant transformations in the last
four decades, since April 25th 1974 revolution. The transformations can be classified has increasingly
complex as a result of trade internationalization and geographical mobility between countries and
continents. New factors of class instability and fragmentation emerged as a result. In a nutshell such
transformations have been revealed thusly:
- Internal divisions between manual labour and non-manual labour and increasing leverage
of the latter.
- Higher social mobility
- Coastal and urban concentration
- Lower levels of unionism
- Proletarization of the services sector (i.e. call centres)
- (Growing) weakness of social movements and collective action.
Market and labour internationalization has contributed to highlight structural weaknesses of the
Portuguese economy, namely low levels of qualifications and school attainment, high levels of
1
OCDE: 2,7 milioane de emigranți români în UE, 12 Iulie 2010, agerpres.ro,

13. unemployment, prevalence of work barriers to young people, women and senior citizens, and
vulnerable productive structures, traditionally underpinned on labour-intensive, low-paying
activities.
The cited transformations have also been unable to alter resource distribution that is means of
11
production, qualifications, organizational resources and power.
In recent years, weak economic growth, expenditure restraint and structural top-down reform have
resulted in the “narrowing” of the middle class. Contrary to what happened in the 80s, wealth has
once again concentrated in the hands of business men and top executives, reinforcing revenue
disparities and lowering qualified professional/liberal class. In fact, the recent lingering economic
and social crisis have accentuated precariousness and helped generate wider cleavages and
inequalities in society.
Such negative tendencies have still not been transformed in social conflict. The reason for this
behaviour can firstly be explained in 48 years of a totalitarian regime, which invested heavily in
creating a mind-set of conformism and resignation towards the exercise of power. Secondly, the
few years after 1974 revolution, where a “storm of social and political struggle exhausted the
population, and rapidly turned to sentiments of frustration and apathy” (Estanque, 2008). Modern
Portuguese population place great distrust in political institutions, and are disinterested in any
political affiliation or collective intervention.
Hence, the current social and economic climate has placed considerable strain in the weaker
classes of society, especially young people and minorities.
In the following chapters, social composition of these minorities is further investigated.

14. International migrations and main interpretation models
Trying to offer a short presentation of the main models used in the attempt to understand the
12
migration flows, we start from a faraway period, the beginning of the twentieth century, a period
moreover that already had many of the structural features of the economic globalization that are
considered typical of the present era (Hirst and Thompson, 1997).
When we wonder who and what creates a change, we focus, following a “macro” perspective,
elements- mechanisms working in the social system that means, it is consistent with a view to the
“micro” social actors and agents. Even in the scientific study of migration started as early as the
nineteenth century, social scientists were divided between those who preferred approaches that
adopted a holistic paradigm (perhaps the majority) and those who adopted an individualist
paradigm, while there were also those who have tried to find a sort of mix between the two
paradigms.
At the first group belongs the classical view of migration, which considers the individual as homo
oeconomicus able to rationally calculate the benefits of its location in a different economic and
geographic space (Cifiello S., 1993, p. 156).
Moving in the wake of classical scholars such as Marx and Durkheim, this paradigm sees the actor
as hyper-socialized and the action as governed by macro-social elements-mechanisms. The most
widely known analytical tool and applied to a variety of contexts is defined by the dichotomous
type push/pull (in the sense that the choice of migration can be attributed to the dominance of
expulsive factors in areas of origin or in attractive elements in reception areas) 2. The study of
migration is driven, in this perspective, by the search of conditions, rules or regulations
differentiating the areas of inward migration to the ones of outgoing migration. In an attempt to
explain the dimensions, orientations and trends of migration flows, these researchers usually
indicate the existing wage imbalances between different geographical areas, differences in the
access to capital in its various forms (Scidà, 2003); uneven in terms of available technologies;
significant differences in both the density and in the pace of population growth, and so on. For
supporters of the “macro” perspective, one or more of these macro-social factors- mechanisms
may explain the large international migrations in a way that their outcomes, in terms of human
mobility, can be for some aspects foreseen and their developments to some extent controlled.
For a long time, therefore, research on international migration flows tried to examine this
phenomenon using economic categories in the framework of a "questioning" concept. The
prevailing reference was to the labour market and the attraction that lead strong economies
2The reasons for migrations, therefore, are different and complex and that are both push factors, that can be of economic,
political, religious, ethnic, ecological kind and pull factors (Bohening W.R., 1984) due to territories and better living conditions.

15. against the weak and backward, with a consequent flow of poorer areas to richer ones, where
there is higher demand for labour (Tognetti Bordogna M., 1989, p. 33).
According to this theory "it is always the need to use the capital of the country of incoming
migration, which promotes the exodus, and never the need to migrate” (Ferrarotti F., 1988, p. 101).
13
The economic law of demand continues to have its validity even if "there is no longer the extension
of labour demand with the possibility of residual occupations for newcomers, but a significant
modification of the same demand itself that shows an increase in jobs good only for incoming
migrants"(E. Pugliese, 1985).
It’s interesting, as stated by Ferrarotti (F., 1988, p. 102) to focus on the mode of creation of the offer,
on the creation of giant reservoirs of available labour and forced to the more rapid horizontal
mobility and vertical mobility by a whole of factors, including political and cultural that end up
being decisive.
Symmetrical and opposite, however, is the theory that belongs to the second group, assuming as
only cause of the migration process, a deep feeling of moral and material hardship, of the
individual or a large segment of the population (Cifiello S., 1993, p. 156). It is important to overcome
the economic condition, which, in one way or another he speaks, living a commodified system,
considering the human and existential aspect. This is because migrants are reduced only to labour,
a commodity-employment they are judged only according to the usefulness and functionality to
the labour market so they cannot have human problems, which remain the exclusive property of
those who can afford them. At the bottom you go back to the old edifying discussion whether or
not these barbarians have a soul (L. Perrone,1995).
The individualist paradigm, in the wake of sociologists such as Weber and Simmel, sees the actor as
hypo-socialized and the action as highly self-interested. This approach sees individual motivations
and intentions underlying the actions of the actor, not necessarily rational or conscious, which lead
in our case to the decision to migrate. Analysts, therefore, focus their investigation on reasons of the
actor, as well as on diversity, including areas affected by migration flows, as they can offer in the
hosting country increasing degrees of individual freedom with respect to political and/or religious
belonging, to value system and protection of human rights but also, and perhaps prevalently, with
reference to the possibility of guaranteeing the actor: survival, autonomy, a social status, comfort,
etc.. In an individualistic perspective, mobility is not only justified by differences in levels of wages
but also (and perhaps to a greater extent) by a higher share of labour demand.

16. Phenomena of migration
The phenomenon of migrations is old but has reached a consistent size with the creation of modern
industrial society. Since the conquest of America in the early twentieth century, in fact, the
14
migration flows are directed from Europe to the poor and overpopulated "new worlds" to be
exploited, such as North and South America, Australia and Southern Africa. After the Second World
War, however, the direction of these flows was reversed. Italy itself becomes from a land of
outgoing migration, a land of inward migration.
In the last two decades our society has been characterized by deep social and cultural changes
that have increased its complexity (A. Perucca, 1998, p. 11-29). The ability to move capitals and
goods in a sudden way, looks like one of the phenomena that characterize, in a significant way,
the modern and postmodern society.
Emerging phenomena of new multi-cultural co-habitation
When Italy "realizes" that it is a country of inward migration and not only outgoing migrants, with the
well-known delays and negative effects, the expert Italian outgoing migrants are the ones who
study the phenomenon of inward migration. We already defined this phenomenon, on other
occasions, to be "affected with strabismus": to see the present time through the eyes of the past [L.
Perrone, 1995].
No doubt that the new studies on incoming migration are entitled to a scientific and cultural
heritage of respect, derived from extensive studies on migration, but also inherit some defects, such
as the confusion of historical periods and the projection of past methods on the present. Despite
the changed international and national scenarios (from fordism to post-fordism) [L. Perrone, 2005],
this structural element is often overlooked and is used for proposals out of time.
Either we keep talking about models (assimilationist or integrationist), in a reality that clearly needs
to plow new grounds, perhaps through the new practice of "good practices" in search of
something feasible, practicable and consolidate. We no longer have monocultural flows, but
polycentric and multicultural flows.3.
One indicator of this difficulty is the wrong use of some words. An all-Italian situation which is not
found elsewhere, from the old countries of migration, where these terms were created and
structured in time. Words with a long history, therefore, disregarded in Italy.
Terms such as integration or assimilation have a location and a history that cannot be forgotten, as
happens in Italy4. So this is true for words like trans-cultural, multicultural or intercultural, used
3
In Italy, according to the most reliable data, we have migrants coming from 402 different countries [Caritas-Roma, 2010].
An un common phenomenon that pushes us not to search for models [Perrone L., ibidem].
4 The Assimilation (French model) was demonized, while the integration (English model) is proposed as a model in every
institutional document.

17. interchangeably, despite their different meaning. This is not a semantic matter but a philosophical
one highlighting the confusion created in Italy by migration. Associations are very important in this
situation. Nevertheless only recently the migrants have had access to some fields that once
belonged only to the Italians. A delay due to the type of migration that has affected Italy and the
15
non-recognition of qualifications, which allowed the under-acknowledge of migrants in marginal
and underpaid jobs.
In Italy migrants do not speak, others speak about them and in the best cases they talk about
themselves. This lead to have jobs and proposals despite their participation, or we see that
discussion about migrants that made the old topic of outsider and insider emerging, and even this
one was discussed more abroad than in Italy [Perrone L., ibidem].
Being absent, or (currently) with a limited presence of the major players, we have, in large part,
works of outsiders, mostly living room intellectuals, away from the problems of people concerned
and very close to public power (academic but mainly political). People that treats migrants like
numbers, write well paid reports, with many tables, copy and paste of methodological notes and
maybe doing the apotheosis of participatory technique. They are unable to grasp social reality,
because the participatory cultural scripts are absent from their vivid minds. Actually they write a lot
about migration but they would not be able to distinguish an African from an Indian.
Symmetrical to them are the "blacks with a white head", migrants who have understood the game
and are moved by the same categories of having and appearing. at the expense of anyone,
migrants or locals.
Families and second generations of immigrants
To define the family has always been a difficult problem. As explained by P. Donati (1995), each
culture has a precise representation of the family so that this term designates a wide range of
primary social forms that have different relational structures and vary from culture to culture
according to different societies and their traditions (Ashen RN, 1974). According to Leclercq (J.,
1964), "the family is composed of human beings living in a given country at one time”
It is therefore a mistake to think the family institution as isolated from the society, because it
communicates and interacts with it: there is no society without the family nor the family without
society. Fundamental is the central role that family plays in the migratory strategy of the individual
in choosing to migrate and the choice of the one in the family that has to leave or can leave
(Scabini E., P. Donati, 1984; W. Dumon, 1993, pp. 27-53).
The decision to migrate taken by the individual is the result of a strategy honed in the extended
family, according to a selection process that he or she has the "features" to make the long jump or
to start a path which can then be followed by family members. Often there is a network of
relationships in the country of migration, which serves as a place of attraction for the decision and

18. next-business integration. Migrants go away to assure their family an income or to prepare the the
subsequent arrival of family members. Migration is frequent in the construction of a kinship-based
society, which produces a protection and solidarity among members of the same community or
between individuals of the same area, the same region. It forms a substitute family, social, not
16
genealogical, the so-called "ethnic niche", often the only relation for the migrants (Scabini E., P.
Donati, 1984).
Regardless of the model of family, the family that migrates is still a broken family. A broken family,
because on one hand their members are located in different countries, on the other new styles of
life that accompany the migration cause fractures, contrasts with the culture of origin and the
pattern of extended family, tradition . The migrating family is a family that is between a family who
is afraid of losing their roots, or in an opposite dynamic, in a process of forced acculturation, cutting
its roots in a violent manner with often devastating consequences over time.
The migrating family fluctuates, therefore, between "memory", understood as a reminder of its past,
and "project", which is a set of expectations for the future, giving rise to that particular condition
defined by Perotti "dynamic feel" (A. 1994, p. 12-20). The migration requires, therefore, more energy
for the construction and reorganization of the family structures capable of taking into account not
only the family and society of origin, but also the needs of the targeted society while preserving
their cultural identity, since one of the risks of globalization is the tendency for cultural leveling and,
therefore, the cultural uprooting and loss of identity (Favaro G., 1998).
The settlement of people in the hosting country follows multiple paths and structures, family re-
unions, inter-ethnic and/or mixed marriages with an Italian bride/groom, or couples without
children, “families” living together but not relatives that form a sort of ethnic niche, often only link in
migration. Facing this reality we have to follow a multi-dimensional approach that is not ethno-
centric, it’s necessary to approach the culture of foreign families, taking into consideration a series
of shared visions of the world, meanings and adapting attitudes, coming from the different forms of
cultural organization of the family and the system of values that is below it 5. Scabini and Regalia
(E., C., 1993) underline the need to overcome the very frequent stereotype that considers the
incoming migrant as a subject without family links, that autonomously manages his/her migration
path.
The topic of migration in a family perspective is a challenge and an ethic and scientific need and
the social sciences cannot avoid to face that. The migrant family is not a very precise object of
study, as Bensalah points out: “when we talk about migrant family, we define significant space and
time fields, on one side the one of migration that is the one of separation and departure, on the
other side the one of family, that is the one of continuity and links” (N., 1984, p. 238). However, we
know that this is the history of men, “migration” is as old as the world, and because we know we
cannot go against the roots of men, today that we have even faster movements and they are
5
To deepen this topic cfr. Zincone, 2001.

19. included in a world system that is more complicated than yesterday, we need to constantly re-
elaborate our scientific paths. It’s important to have a “social order” where the identities are
elaborated starting from the categories of the different, here and elsewhere, before and after. The
migrant, says Ciola, live a new and “combinatorial” experience where aspects of his/her culture
17
are mixed with another, to have a new original and unique individual (A., 1997).
Migration plans
The situation of fear, short-sightedness gave less importance to the positive effects of migration
(cultural, economic, contributing to the social welfare) and to the migrant as citizen with rights and
duties. The presence of migrants represent an opportunity to think again and discuss the limits
present in the Italian Welfare system, social policy, in particular social and welfare policies. Thinking
about the system of social services we need not only an enlargement of the access but more than
this a re-organization of the mechanisms that rule the access, because we cannot talk about an
outright inclusion but a selective inclusion, so we have to proceed with a detailed analysis of the
inclusion processes to better identify the possible unclear points, the bottlenecks that are usual in
the interaction migrant-service (Tognetti Bordogna M., 1992, pag. 157). In the inclusion strategies
we need to find the mix that can take into account the cultural elements and structural
discriminations, because it’s not enough the simple inclusion in the system of services of people
coming from the south of the world, but it’s necessary to check the specific conditions of living
(Ibidem, p. 158).
An appropriate policy must take into account the needs of involved social people, considered as
men in their recent and past story.
Starting from a first knowledge of the needs linked to the dimension of the migration
phenomenon, most of problems are represented by the discomfort and the accommodation
exclusion, conditions of isolation and marginalization lived by the woman in migration, integration
of minors in society and schools.
Since their arrival, together with primary needs (board, lodging and employment), the need to
communicate, understand and be understood, to know the direction in many unknown places
and different communication codes, is fundamental. Both in the case that the migrant finds an
answer to these communication needs with the people from the same country already included
in society, both if he/she tries to learn the “rules of the game”, communicative and cultural,
observing the local people, he/she immediately understands the need to learn.
Adaptations and refusals, fluctuations and assimilations towards the country of residence, are
constant elements at level of psychological and social overcoming of conflicts for the migrant.
The individual, young or adult, the single worker or the family units are engaged in a research of

20. new balances that is not easy, to escape the condition of conflict that characterizes the
migration.
The learning of a second language, the professional mobility, the scholastic success, the access to
information, the contact with local people are some of the fields that need psychic and
18
intellectual resources for the migrant.
So it’s hard the research of distinctive rights: the possibility to lose the linguistic roots, to have places
and moments recognized to express their cultural identity.
If we consider the socio-educational needs of migrants it can be useful, for the planning of
interventions, establish a sequence of training needs that lead them through the different stages of
migration. We can identify the reception, inclusion, integration and re-entry needs that are all
interlinked in a systematic way6.
It’s above all in the studies about children and migration that the topic of identity is recurring,
defines as “hanging on, multi-colour, mosaic, vulnerable…”. Identity that concerns the life and
psychological condition of the human being and the fact of feeling “between”: between two
cultures, between two languages, between family expectations and society messages (in
particular the school).
Children in migration have to combine messages and different requests, sometimes contradictory
ones, that come from the family on one side and from the school and the hosting society from the
other side. They have here and now to give value and realize the family projects, justifying in this
way the difficulties of the travel and the hardness of exile but at the same time maintaining the
references and the links as a symbol of fidelity to the origins and continuity of the family history.
On the topic of cultivation process of migrants, Sélim Abou (1981) distinguishes among the process
of re-interpretation that is of interest especially for the first generation adults and the process of
synthesis, that is typical of migrants’ children. In the strategy of material cultivation, because it is
partial, the contents and new attitudes are re-interpreted according to the cultural system of origin
and invested with “old” meanings.
In the second case, the process of synthesis happens when the cultivation is formal and modifies
the structures of mind and feelings. It deals in particular with the second generation people,
divided between home and school, target society and group of origin, obliged to internalize the
two cultural codes and elaborate the conflicts that come from this.
To succeed in this difficult path, to be positively included without losing or refuse their differences,
children need a “double authorization”: one from the family and the other from the school and the
educational services.
The migrant parents must allow their children to be a little different from the expectations and
image they had, the school has to give value to the knowledge and the origin of the foreign
6 To deepen this topic Favaro G., 1989.

21. children, recognize their history, language, “other” references as worth to be known and
recognized.
That’s why, two educational partners have to be convinced that the bi-cultural and bi-lingual
situation is a privileged one that has to be supported and valorised.
19
Messages, values and daily practices linked to the process of family cultivation, messages, values
and daily practices linked to the process of cultivation in the educational services and school.
So what are the conditions to be promoted to have a real “interaction” involving all the dimensions
of life?
On the social level, life conditions and equal access to the resources have to be granted to the
family (accommodation, use of services for everybody, facilitation mechanisms…).
On the structural and origin level, there should be access to the citizenship for the migrants’
children because only in this way the full involvement, equal rights and duties, identification with
the hosting country will be granted.
On the linguistic and cultural level, there should be not only facilitation tools for learning the new
language – and so the culture – but also recognition, valorisation, exchange of language and
culture of origin.
On the level of scholastic inclusion, the procedures of reception should be homogeneous avoiding
for instance cases of “delay”, defining the tools and resources necessary to offer specific answers
and efficient to solve specific didactic problems.
On the level of relationship and “interaction among groups”, we have to modify the educational
services, the school and the moments of extra-school networking, so that such places become
meeting places between children and teenagers, free from stereotypes, closures and mutual
distrusts.
Places of Exchange, mestizo places, “middle earths” that becomes places for everybody 7.
The migration phenomenon has become a structural element of Italian society and so it is meant
for lasting and widening in time until it deeply modifies the relationship among men and women in
the territory.
Such presences force society to equip itself appropriately to face this new challenge, to better
know the phenomenon and manage it with appropriate policies, developing actions and initiatives
that lead the citizens towards an intercultural cohabitation.
Not understanding that the “movement towards west” – for what it is or represents compared to
other historical and political experiences – is a reality that is not a temporary period, would be one
of the biggest mistakes ever. It’s necessary to be equipped with information and evaluation tools,
we need “organization”, capacity and will to plan in front of such great sociological events. In
terms of cultural dynamic it would be appropriate to plan positive actions in order to make the
society at ease and go beyond an epidemic racism, contrasting the fear of ethnic and cultural
7
Cfr. Favaro G., 1989.

22. news, making them aware of the dimensions of the migration phenomenon, criticizing any idealistic
solution to the problem, as if it was simple to shape - quoting Vance Packard – a “nation of
foreigners”. Shaping from practical social interactions an “open culture” does not mean use
uncommon harmonic syncretism with superficiality (Cfr. Mauri L., 1992, p. 11). So, it is known that –
20
as Clifford Geertz (1974) proved – symbolic and cultural self-referential systems such as the religious
ones 8 aren’t static neither unchangeable.
It’s possible to think about a social rooting of intercultural elements, communicatively strong, such
as the result of a slow and difficult process, of positive cohabitation of different systems of cultural
reference of social groups that live in the same territory and cross the same social places.
The current presence of foreign migrants in our country is relatively restrained compared to the
western European context, so the situation is still manageable.
We have the economic, social and cultural potential not to feed perverse approaches to the
problem, not to create scapegoats or xenophobe violent cultures.
At the same time we have the strong need to act with rationality – with method – on the effects
produced by the inward migration phenomenon. This is the task of policy and all the intellectuals
that want to live their time and contribute in a useful way to that (Bourdieu P., 1971, pp. 11-12).
The problems of housing and work, law and order, political involvement, bureaucracy, health
system management are old problems never solved for local people too. Now they are worse,
transforming the impact of the new guests from the south of the world into an hopeless competition
with limited resources available, a conflict of interests among peoples that cannot have a winner
and a defeated (Micheli G. A., 1992).
Offer writes:
a further aspect of the inefficiency (of the welfare state) is that it does not delete the causes of
unexpected accidents and individual needs (such as sick leaves, urban disorders produced by a
capitalist market of buildings, obsolescence of qualifications, unemployment and so on) but
compensate (partly) to the consequences of such events (offering health services and assurances
in case of illness, housing benefits, possibility to be trained and re-trained, unemployment benefits
and so on). In general, the most characteristic social intervention of the Welfare State in Italy is “too
late” and so the procedures are more expensive and less efficient than an “exact” intervention
would be (Offe C., 1977).
We need to redefine the rules for a social cohabitation of different groups.
We need to explicitly say what is in our social system the cornerstone of the habeas corpus, the
untouchable rights of citizenship, and the different laws that are comparable and can be applied
to temporary and stable foreigners, hosts and hosting people (Micheli G. A., 1992, p. 20).
We need to foresee what is unforeseeable, underlining what are the reasonable criteria of
cohabitation that can be applied without perverse effects.
8
To deepen this topic Bourdieu P., 1971.

23. We need to find right rules to exploit in the best way the anthropological heritage.
We need to plan solutions to make the working and production systems more flexible, enabling
mechanisms of economic exchange to use at best the possible synergies with different forms of
work organizations, without distorting their task and wasting their impulsion.
21
We need to invent new tasks for the Welfare State, anchoring the guarantees of social citizenship
not only to the regulation of the system of services but also to the standardization of time, space
and interpersonal relationships.
It is necessary to identify, if any, practical rules of living together to safeguard the cultural and
symbolic identity of minorities resident and minorities guests without breaking the law of the hosting
population, indeed enhancing its founding principles.
We should, in fact, be able to manage with anthropological sensitivity the impact between a
secular and pluralistic society and fragments of religious societies –extolling what is essential in the
principles of freedom and autonomy of individual consciences and at the same time recovering
the roots of inherently religious foundations of the society of welfare.
The phenomenon of migration brings to reflect upon the basic concepts of the law system in the
society of Welfare.
The old and the new poverty does not produce so much anxiety. The immigrants put radically into
question the universality of the system of citizenship of democratic regimes, highlighting the limits of
the principle of inclusion and strategies to make it operative. The ones who are not included, are
excluded: the formalization of the exclusion is - metaphorically of course - apartheid. Not to be
holders of a privilege, that of full citizenship, which discriminates on grounds of nationality is better
to attribute to reasons other than the failure or delay or partial inclusion (Manconi L., 1990).
Inward migration is increasingly becoming a structural fact, a social element that runs through our
daily lives, living places and common areas, changing the cultural landscape, language, ethnic
cities and neighborhoods. Migrants since some time are "taking root", they are stopping here,
beside us, often without having consciously decided to stay. From project and individual travel,
migration becomes familiar, involving different people, and asks within the nucleus, and outside to
services, a new type of questions and needs. This makes no longer procastinable a political
interaction that might focus on new social actors and actions between them and services for all.
Beyond the many meanings that can be attributed to the term interaction, two aspects seem to
be crucial: the interaction does not happen by chance but is the result of a process that must be
designed, built, maintained, the interaction is a bilateral process, which originates from the many
opportunities for exchange, debate, confrontation between migrants and local communities. In
this interaction process, destined to radically change places, city services, the migrant family plays
a central role from various points of view.
What makes blatantly gasping our social policy for the phenomenon of migration is not – yet - the
size of the phenomenon itself, but the speed with which it is increased in recent years combined

24. with the inability of policy makers to give general guidelines for social policy inextricably together
and finally coherent foreign policy choices.
We are, in short, at the right time and in the ideal conditions for building a just and supportive
policy. It is a matter of "doing" and to recover an ethical thrust towards effectiveness.
22
UK
Definition of numerous ethnic groups
Defining ethnic groups is a complex task and the definitions relating to these groups are perceived
by the research as fluid and dynamic. One source of definitions of UK ethnic groups is the UK
National Census which provides a set of categories which aim to describe the ethnic groups of the
UK. The 2001 UK Census, for example, is based on a 13 group classification that includes three
categories of ‘White’ (White British, White Irish, White Other), three categories of ‘Black’ (Black
Caribbean, Black African, Black Other) and Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, ‘Other Asian’ and
Chinese. There are also categories labelled ‘Mixed’ and ‘Other’ (Finney, 2011: 459). Much of the
research surrounding such categorisations concur that the meanings and possible interpretations of
these ethnic group categories are variable and contested and these groupings do not effectively
capture the ethnic diversity of the UK (Finney, 2011; Aspinall 2000; Burton et al. 2010). There may be
extensive diversity within these categories and different ethnic groups are constantly being
developed and formed as people move across and within countries and communities,
demonstrating that these groupings are fluid and subject to change depending on shifting social,
political and cultural perspectives. ‘Indians’ in Britain, for example, are referred to by the 2001
Census as one ethnic group but within this group there exists extensive linguistic and cultural
diversity where hundreds of different mother tongues may require the use of English as a Lingua
Franca for ‘Indians’ to communicate with each other. As individuals in India the group labelled
‘Indian’ in Britain would belong to varying groups in terms of caste and language (Scott and
Marshall, 2009).
Migratory Phenomena
Migration activity is generated by a wide range of factors which include work, study, family ties or
marriage and graduate migration (or what is colloquially known as ‘the brain drain’). UK Home
Office data on entry clearance visas and admissions of those who are subject to immigration
control coming to the United Kingdom for study, work and family reasons show various migratory
phenomena developing in the UK over the last six years. For example, student immigration has
seen a general increase since 2005, rising particularly rapidly in 2009 but the latest visa data for 2011

25. indicate that numbers wishing to study have fallen since a peak in the year ending June 2010.
(Great Britain Home Office, 2011). Inequality of opportunity or variations in human capital tend to
encourage migration, and this is particularly true in the case of university graduates who may more
likely to apply for study and be less likely to return home after they have graduated if there are
23
fewer opportunities for work in their home context. Cost of living, crime rates and high
unemployment are also factors which influence migration trends, particularly of graduates
(Faggian et al., 2006, p.469).
In contrast to this, work-related immigration has fallen overall since 2006 and work visas have
continued to fall after a slight increase to the year ending March 2011. Family immigration has also
shown a slow overall decrease since 2006 (Great Britain Home Office, 2011). The number of people
granted settlement (i.e. permission to remain indefinitely in the UK) in 2011 fell by a third (-32%) to
163,477, compared with 2010 (241,192). There were 177,878 grants of British citizenship in 2011, 9%
fewer than in the previous year (195,046), mainly due to 11,399 fewer grants based on marriage (-
24%) and 6,606 fewer grants to children related to British citizens (-14%) (ibid). Asylum applications
were up 11% in 2011 (19,804) compared to 2010 (17,916), with each quarter in 2011 being higher
than the one 12 months earlier. This may be attributed to an increase in applications from nationals
of Pakistan, Libya and Iran. However, asylum applications continue to be significantly lower than
levels seen in the early 2000s (Great Britain Home Office, 2011). Thus the overall trend demonstrated
by these figures is that migration is falling in the UK. There are many social variables that may
influence the development of this sort of trend and political change is considered as one of these
later in this report.
B. ANTHROPOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
The definition of culture determines the condition of intercultural theory: the existence of different
cultures is a fact as well as the presence of different social groups.
The concept of culture then changes from culture able to understand the others, not anymore
elite, not enemy of pollòi, not individualistic, in the aristocratic meaning, not grounded on the
contrast between otium and negotium in an economy supported by the work of slaves.
The fundamental reason for the crisis of the concept of culture as an exclusive legal term is given, in
fact, by its instrumental inability to communicate with the other on an equal footing. The
intercultural society requires a different type of culture, a culture that knows how to re-express the
criteria of excellence and the terms of a critical self-evaluation in a mass society and in a world
characterized not by the historical diachronic, synchronic process but by the presence of all
humans beings on a planetary scale (Ferrarotti F., 2003).
In studies dealing with migration they generically refer to the set of rules, customs, language and
religion specific of a certain population. Further analysis shows that in reality, within what are known

26. as elements of the culture of a social group, it is possible to distinguish between: regulatory and
content elements and symbolic-formal elements.
Regarding the first one, you can say that culture, as a regulatory content system, provides the
individual with that set of standards and reference models under which outlines mental patterns,
24
coordinate operations, representations and ways of interpreting reality . The culture as a symbolic
formal system provides, instead, those elements that underlie the processes of individual
identification with respect to group membership (Blasutug G., 1991-1992, pp. 93-95).
In light of these considerations it is perhaps possible to better understand the ways in which the
migrant is part of the hosting society. Firstly, he/she may remain completely alien to the social
system and you have the first of the two extreme solutions which had been previously discussed.
The only contacts with this system relate to the inclusion in the productive structure and,
consequently, in the cultural patterns referred to that are those acquired in the exodus area, which
are stored on a normative content and symbolic-formal level.
Particularly interesting are, however, the intermediate solutions related to the way in which the
migrant is part of the hosting country. These are characterized by a partial takeover of the culture
of the target society by foreigners, both in terms of content elements and symbolic aspects. In
these cases, the inclusion takes place only within the structure of production but also in other social
areas.
The migrant learns the basic values of the target society, the contents of this culture and,
simultaneously, maintains his/her distinct origin and enhances the symbolic elements.
Another situation that is verifiable is the complete assimilation and the total adherence to the
culture of the hosting society. In this case the migrant takes possession of the regulatory system and
the symbolic system of the social hosting group, thereby erasing its historical memory.
An important role to choose the possible solutions plays both the motivations that led to the
decision to emigrate and the attitude of the destination society. In the latter case it is useful to refer
to the distinction between formal and symbolic elements and regulatory and content elements.
With regard to the first, one can say that when the social group reaches a certain degree of
integration and cohesion, it develops a symbolic system on which are based processes for the
identification of individuals belonging to the group itself. This process involves deep levels of
personality, affecting in particular the emotional and affective sphere of the individual. When
migrants, people with different cultural characteristics, are starting to be an integral part of the
social structure of the hosting country, the fear of contamination of their peculiar traits comes out
and, ultimately, the loss of their identity. This fear is especially caused by ethnocentrism of Western
society, convinced of the leading edge of the civilizing process, thus creating the potential for
misunderstandings and prejudices against the other.
With regard to culture as content-regulatory system, however, it is possible to say that the societies
by their nature tend to avoid conflict and, therefore, to maintain the rules of conduct, guarantors

27. of social order. Precisely for this reason they set in motion mechanisms that are opposed to radical
changes in the regulatory system (Ibidem, p. 96).
As known, the phenomenon of inward migration and transnationalization 9 create new cultural
links, neighborhood and cohabitation that are inedited compared to the past. The presence of
25
people that have different cultural models changes our daily habitat irreversibly. We find on the
one hand, the idea of the approval of a general standardization and complete of the different
identities to what actually manages to play a dominant role, perhaps because they are able to
direct instruments for the formation of thought, consensus and behaviour, such as schools or
media, while, on the other side, we find a kind of tribalism, or absolute exaltation of identity
conceived as a closed form in itself and impervious to any other relationship with external reality.
Between these two extremes, as opposed for intercultural relationship, but the same for absolute
principle, different modes of relationship stretch, which can range from an assimilation of different
cultures, multicultural integration, which cannot resolve the differences by placing them in relation,
to the multicultural mix that makes the difference in the new identity, ending with the autonomy of
different cultural identities, which does not imply exclusion relations.
You have examples of multicultural mix in terms of various relational dynamics, inter-individual
(inter-marriages), regional (multi-cultural cities), economic (TNCs), artistic (creative intuition) or even
as a simple search of personal experience (Bauman Z., 1999, p. 27).
It seems evident that the phenomenon of migration cannot be addressed in the local condition of
the single state but must be attempted to be resolved in light of the issues that we face today,
particularly since the question can be undertaken if we construct a political form that, through a
series of horizontal connections, is capable of organizing transnational forms able to establish the
effective implementation of fundamental rights, that means building a mode of political
unification, which allows a real pluralism, according to what seems to hold together opposite
positions that seems to be the peculiar context of a "new politics", which carries at all levels, from
the inter subjective to those transnational, being together of self and other, identity and otherness.
The identity of the individual presupposes the capacity to become object to itself. Having an
identity means asking the question "who am I?" and this is possible when the subject learns to look
at himself through the eyes of others, taking on the role and adopting significant symbols.
Only recognizing ourselves through the others, the individual recognizes himself/herself 10.
In social sciences, the issue of identity as growth of the subjectivity and continuity of personality, in
a process of change is found in Erikson (EH, 1964-1972), which analyzes the concept in these terms:
The key problem is that identity (as the name implies), the ego is able to maintain its unity and
continuity in front of an ever-changing destiny. But fate often leads to changes in internal
conditions, results from the layer of actual existence, and changes in its centre, that means in the
9
To deepen this topic Beck U., 1999.
10
Cfr. Sciolla L., 1983.

28. historical situation. The identity defines the elastic capacity necessary to maintain constant certain
essential models in the processes of change.
A sufficiently good identity is then to Erikson characterized by ego strength, its ability to dominate
the environment and the changing nature of the experience. The identity coincides with "the
26
subjective sense of a refreshing consistency and continuity" (Erikson EH, 1964-1972, p. 17), with the
feeling of autonomy, with the capacity for initiative, in short with the ability of the ego to develop
new and different experiences, while maintaining its centrality and integrity. The strength of identity
in emotional-affective and cultural terms is therefore grounded on continuity and ability to accept
change, to integrate past and present experiences. The identity of every man is defined by its own
history and its future, it is the deep emotional response to the emotional and cultural needs that
underlie it and seek to define themselves.
Subsequently, the fields of analysis directed towards the reflection on identity are many. A first basic
distinction can be made between the analysis of identity as predicate of an individual subject and
of the analysis of identity as predicate of groups of individuals (L. Sciolla, 1983, p. 13).
It is necessary to distinguish among individual identity and collective or group identity11, this last
defined as the product of the interaction between an autonomous system of symbols and
(symbolic and territorial) borders and the expectations, scopes, needs, values of each individual.
As Melucci said: The contemporary reflection on identity leads us increasingly not to regard as a
"thing", as the monolithic unity of a subject, but as a system of relations and representations. From
this point of view, the distinction between individual and collective identity, does not concern the
analytical framework that can be described in the same way, what changes is the system of
relations which the main person refers to and respect which is its recognition (Melucci A., 1982, p.
68).
ITALY
The phenomenon of migration in Italy has differences compared to the previous migration
phenomenon in Northern Europe: greater variety of origins of migrants, more various social
composition that means more women, more qualified workers, more students, more migrants with a
urban background. These last ones are the ones that more than others, not considering the ones
arriving with the so called “carrette del mare” (old and unsafe boats used to carry illegal migrants),
can afford to migrate both economically and in terms of “idea” of migration. Besides they have
already tested social and cultural changes in their society of origin, under the sign of modernization
or westernization, this meant crisis of traditions, for instance as concerns the relationship between
genders and family structures and processes of socialization that are “in advance”, and reactions
11
Recognizing themselves in a collective identity, often imaginary, the individual subject thinks to guarantee the personal
identity, to protect himself and protect his fellow man by attacks and persecution, real or feared, from rival groups or
labeled as such and, therefore, designed as embodying the absolute otherness.

29. and claims of menaced identities. In practice, thanks to the diffusion of media, the migrant even
before leaving is introduced in the life and values of the welcoming society: globalization made
possible to apply this concept to international migrations.
The educational project of our society was based on ideals of equality with the purpose to offer to
27
all citizens of our country the same tools of knowledge. Equality was born as desire of the individual
to be considered, with his/her diversity equal to the others. Equality, paradoxally, must grant
diversity and protect the unique character of every experience. Giving value to the difference,
despite all are convinced of that in theory, it’s a very difficult topic in everyday life.
The anthropological researches, the present text included, show that most of main values are
common to different cultures so, considering this point, we have more consonances than conflicts.
As concerns the conflict part, that of course exists, it’s fundamental to use methods that are really
characteristic of democratic debate and discussion, involving schools, families, associations, media
and training centres. Interculture is an interdisciplinary field of discussion, involving the whole field of
human sciences, proposing a general reading from new observation points, it is therefore a
substantial change in the method and processes of socialization and training.
The cultural dynamic is interesting and very fast and complex in recent decades, the phenomena
of diffusion and contact are among those responsible of total or sector upheavals that the tradition
of a given culture may face. The tradition as the set of elements forming a specific culture that is
transmitted from one generation to another, is not without more or less unaware changes (the so-
called "cultural drift"), which is why the tradition is never perfectly equal to itself.
To the process of tradition corresponds, for the receiver, the process of in-culturation for which
every individual assimilates, in a continuum from birth to death, but more intensively in childhood
and adolescence, direct and indirect teachings by the society and culture where he/she is
immersed.
Thus, a process begins by which it tends to become, for the acquired line of thought, feeling and
knowledge, the part in some way aware of that particular society.
The acculturation is the process that leads to the assumption, in whole or in part, of the cultural
habits of another group. Nothing new can penetrate and then settle in the connective structure of
a different culture if the bearers of this do not allow it. The agreement goes through an examination
to which the new person is submitted by those groups, that are the selectors, whose sphere of
interest he/she falls or through the knowledge he/she has.
If the selected element is positive, a process of adaptation begins that has important
consequences both on his/her constitution, and on other factors which apparently seem different.
Any entry does not mean a simple element added to the group that makes a certain culture, but it
means substitutions, modifications, and a series of reflections even in areas far removed from that in
which the integrated element is placed.

30. Of course, when you multiply the channels of contact and speed of entry of outside elements as in
real life today increases, it is difficult to trace the mechanisms of integration.
Syncretism is then an aspect of the process of positive selection and thus integration in which the
foreign element is accepted for its formal analogy with an element forming part of its tradition and
28
has thus misled on its meaning, with the result that synthesis is a new thing compared to what the
item was and meant in both of tradition.
SPAIN
As a result of the immigration phenomenon Spain has experienced in the last decades, the Spanish
society has become more diverse culturally and ethnically. The fact that 12% of Spanish population
has diverse origins means that society is more complex, which offers great social, cultural,
economic potential as well as some challenges. An advantage that Spain has in comparison to
other European countries is that it can learn from good practices as well as mistakes undertaken by
other European countries with more experience managing diversity. Regarding language diversity,
Spanish is the official language. Besides Spanish, six out of the seventeen autonomous communities
have other official languages: Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Aranese. However, other main
languages spoken in Spain are Arabic, Romanian, Wu (spoken by the majority of the Chinese
community in Spain), English, Tamazight, Quechua, and Portuguese.
According to the Spanish constitution, Spain is a non-confessional state that guarantees freedom of
religion and worship. However, the majority of the Spanish population identify themselves as
Catholic (73%), although only 14% of them practice it. Other religions practiced in Spain are
Protestantism (2,5%), Islam (2,3%), Buddhism (1%), Judaism (0,1%). Around 17% of the population
identify themselves as non-religious12.
Related to religious beliefs and practices, Amnesty International (AI) warns about the increasing
Islamophobia and discriminations against Muslim citizens in Spain and Europe in general13.
According to the AI’s report, requests to build mosques are being refused and the reasons given for
that are incompatibility with Spanish traditions and culture, which goes against freedom of faith
and worship recognized by the Spanish Constitution. The report also highlights cases of
discrimination against Muslims in employment and education, especially of individuals wearing
forms of dress or symbols associated with Islam. There is a rise of opinion in Spain that Islam and
Muslims are not a problem as long as they are not too visible. It’s important to emphasize the great
diversity and heterogeneity of the Muslim population in Spain, as well as of the immigrant
population in general.
12
Data extracted from the Observatory of Religious Pluralism, http://www.observatorioreligion.es
13Amnesty International (2012). Choice and prejudice: discrimination against Muslims in Europe,
http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR01/002/2012/en/d9765dfe-058c-4edf-a15d-
5cc31da93c06/eur010022012en.pdf

31. Integration policies in Spain vary from region to region. In general immigration policies tend to be
directed towards assimilation of foreign population, more than to promoting social interaction and
incorporation of newcomers with equal rights, duties, and opportunities. At the local level, there are
some exceptions such as the city of Barcelona. The city council of Barcelona is developing since
29
2010 an intercultural program for the city, with the aim of promoting a positive interaction between
the citizens of Barcelona: newcomers and natives. This local strategy is based on the idea that
diversity is a source of dynamism, innovation and growth14.
ROMANIA
Romania's official language is Romanian which belongs to a group of Eastern Romance languages
and is related to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and, further, with most European
languages. Romanian is the language with the largest number of native speakers representing 91%
of total population, followed by the languages of the two main ethnic minorities, Hungarians and
Roma. Thus, Hungarian is spoken by a rate of 6.7% and the Gypsy (Roma) of 1.1% of the total
population. By the '90s, in Romania there was a large community of speakers German, represented
mostly by Saxons. Although most members of this community emigrated to Germany, have
remained present in a significant number of 45,000 native speakers of German in Romania. In
localities where a particular ethnic minority is more than 20% of the population, that minority
language can be used in public administration and the judiciary. English and French are the main
foreign languages taught schools in Romania. English is spoken by a total of 5 million French
Romanian while about 4.5 million, and the German, Italian and Spanish 1-2 million each. In the past,
French was the language known in Romania, but recently, English tends to gain ground. Typically,
aficionados of English are particularly young. However, Romania is a full member of the
Francophone and in 2006 hosted a major summit in Bucharest of the organization. The German
language was taught mainly in Transylvania, due to traditions that have survived in this region
during the Austro-Hungarian rule.
Religious life in Romania is governed by the principle of freedom of religious belief, a principle
enshrined in Article 29 of the Constitution, with freedom of thought and opinions. [24] Although not
explicitly define the secular state, Romania has no national religion, respecting secular principle:
public authorities are obliged to neutrality of associations and churches.
Romanian Orthodox Church is the main religious institution in Romania. It is an autocephalous
church that is in communion with other churches belonging to the Orthodox Church. Most of the
Romanian population, 86.7% respectively, was declared as the Orthodox Christian religion,
according to 2002 census. Also, major religious communities belonging to other branches of
Christianity than orthodoxy, are represented by: Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%),
14 Barcelona Intercultural Plan, Barcelona City Council: http://www.interculturalitat.cat/

32. Pentecostalism (1.5%) and Greek-Catholicism (0.9%). The Christian population in Romania is 99.3%
of the total population. In Dobrogea there is an Islamic minority composed mostly of Turks and
Tatars. [29] Also, the census of 2002, in Romania there were 6179 people of faith, 23,105 of 11,734
atheists and people who have not said religion.
30
By the Union of 1918, most of the population of Transylvania was made up of believers of the
Romanian Church United with Rome, [30] following the passage of much of the Romanians, by
then Orthodox, the Church of Rome, at the turn of seventeenth century. Catholicism and
Protestantism are present mainly in Transilvania and Crisana. For example, in Arad and Bihor highest
density of faithful Baptist denomination in Romania, they meet in April % (18,407) 3.7% (22,294) of
the total population of those counties. Also, in Romania there are other religions, such as old-style
Orthodox, Armenian and other similar cult.
PORTUGAL
According to the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 2012), Portugal has a homogenous
Mediterranean stock, with citizens of black African descent, Brazilians and East Europeans
comprising the main immigrant communities, each containing no more than 100.000 inhabitants.
In effect Portuguese multiculturality manifested itself solely on the last quarter of the last century.
The return of Portuguese former colonists from Africa and Africans themselves, determined both by
decolonization and a new and growing need for workforce, was a result of a sudden increase in
quality of life in Portugal. A massive inclusion of numerous Africans, but also Brazilians, with distinct
ways of life made evident lifestyles that were never seen before. Up to this point, Portugal was a
monochromatic country, where despite the presence of some foreigners, only the cheer scale of
migration was now able to expose the idiosyncrasies of incoming population and a need to pay
attention to their specific necessities (Lages & Matos, 2008).
In 1990, new forms of migration followed as a high number of individuals from Eastern Europe and
Brazil, but also from other parts of the world besides Africa came to Portugal.
In 35 years since 1975, foreign migration has not ceased to increase15. Considering foreign-born, its
absolute number increased from near 108 000 individuals in 1990 to 437 000 in 2006. Its overall
weight was in 2006 about 4,1% of total population, a staggering increase from 1,1% in 1991 (Peixoto,
2008).
The composition of this migrant population is diversified. In 2006, considering a Portuguese
population of 10 599 095 hab. major contingents originated from former African colonies (named
PALOP for Portuguese African Speaking Countries) comprising 32,9% of the total, Eastern European
countries 19,5%, and South Americans (esp. Brazil) 18,5%16
15 This analysis was made in 2008. The recent economic crisis will probably overturn this trend.
16 Numbers taken from Immigration Observatory.

33. On average, the immigrant population is young (under 40 years old) and male (54,8%). In fact, the
percentage of senior citizens is extremely low (4,7%) by comparison to general population (17,3%).
However, this varies greatly among immigrant groups. Eastern European migration is generally men-
based. And Brazilian migration is mostly comprised of women (53%). There are also a number of
31
English and Spanish migrants, who have an above than average number of older citizens.
Table 2. Total population and foreign born population with residence permit, by nationality, gender
and age, 2006.
Total H M 0-14 15-39 40-64 65+
G % % % % % %
Total Population 10.599.095 48,4 51,6 15,5 34,9 32,4 17,3
Foreign
332.137 54,8 45,2 16,0 54,3 25,0 4,7
Population
EU 25 79.951 52,5 44,9 13,9 45,5 33,4 7,2
Eastern Europe 44.950 59,8 40,2 15,0 53,3 31,1 0,6
Former African
Colonies 121.423 56,6 43,4 18,3 58,1 20,5 3,1
(PALOP)
Brazil 42.319 47,0 53,0 13,0 67,7 17,3 2,0
China 8081 56,3 43,7 21,7 59,0 17,7 1,6
Source: National Statistics Institute, 2007.
Immigration growth has had a clear impact in Portuguese population composition. This is especially
apparent in the number of children born in Portugal to a foreign mother or father. In 1995 this
number was merely 2,4%. In 2006, 9,1% of children born had a foreign mother. This translates to
10.000 of foreign origin out of a total of 100.000 births (Peixoto, 2008). Moreover these births mainly
have a PALOP (former African colonies) origin.
Families with at least one foreign member are also an indication of the extent of multiculturality in
Portugal. The number of marriages between partners of different nationalities has seen a 10%
increase. This is especially true for Brazilian women, who have a higher than average number of
mixed marriages.
Considering most frequent immigrant groups (Brazilian, Chinese East Europeans and PALOP) profile
differentiation generally occurs in relation to educational qualifications and professional status
(Miranda, 2009). Up to 2006, most African immigrants had low qualifications and worked on low-
skilled activities. Asian population had a propensity to hold jobs in the commerce sector, especially
the Chinese. Brazilians were mostly white-collar workers until 1990. However this year marked a new
wave of Brazilian workers who occupied lower paying jobs in hotels, restaurants and commerce.

34. Eastern Europeans had superior qualifications comparative to the average immigrant but also
occupied low-skilled and low-paying jobs.
On the next pages the characterization of the most important social/ethnic groups is further
developed.
32
Brazilian Community and Identity
Brazilians chose Portugal for the motherland reference, historical bonds, common language, a
certain perceived familiarity to Portuguese culture and more importantly the fact that an entry visa
is not required.
As a social group there has been a change in immigrant profile. The earlier wave was essentially
made up of qualified people, predominantly dentists, computer technicians and publicists
(Miranda, 2009). The new wave of Brazilians primarily found jobs in construction work, restaurants
and commerce and cleaning chores.
Since the colonization process, Brazil and Portugal relationship has been highly complex, and as
such, so have the processes of reciprocal image construction. Both countries are deeply
connected, but tensions and differences exist. This complexity of common history has affected
representation of the other country as well of themselves (Malheiros, 2007). Both countries are
viewed in a friendly and unfriendly light at the same time.
In effect, Brazilian immigrants are a clearly distinct group as opposed to other groups, showing
close relations to the Portuguese culture. Even though there are clear distinctions between them,
some parallels are expressed through social representations.
The way immigrant communities raise their children is not very different from the Portuguese way.
However the Brazilian community does arise as the one with more similarities with the Portuguese.
First of all, the way they educate children is “little or no different” (Malheiros, 2007, p. 164). As far as
habits and traditions are concerned, Brazilians appear the closest to the native society, especially if
one considers that the majority do not find any difference whatsoever between Brazilian and
Portuguese customs. Regarding cultural habits and social values, Brazilians disagree that it is
important to dress and behave like the Portuguese and that culture valorisation is important to
immigrant integration (Malheiros, 2007, p. 163). This may communicate the strength of Brazilian
culture and influence in Portugal, but also the inexistence of compulsion to subordination to the
dominant culture.
In spite these similarities there are prevailing prejudices and stereotyping, that continue to exist and
challenge intercultural contact.
The following table summarizes main assumptions of Brazilians made by the Portuguese. The source
is still Malheiros.
Table 3. Portuguese stereotyping regarding Brazilians (Machado I. J., 2007) (Silva & Schiltz, 2007)
Yes No

35. Joyful and good mood 74,7 25,3
Nice and easy going 63,2 36,8
Well-mannered 47,2 52,8
Good professionals 31,3 68,7
33
Competent 30,0 70,0
Serious and hard-working 25,7 74,3
Violence prone 23,7 76,3
Have contributed to drug
33,8 66,2
trafficking
Have contributed to
69,6 30,4
prostitution
Have contributed to
22,9 77,1
organized crime
Source: Lages, M (2006) in Malheiros, 2006.
Some authors suggest some “beneficial” stereotyping has been favoured by Brazilians as a
mechanism of survival and distinction, especially in labour markets (Machado I. J., 2007, p. 173).
Such is the case of waiters: the perceived joy, friendliness and affability of Brazilians grant this
community an advantage in the eyes of employers, as they believe those characteristics to be true
to every member. Machado also refers a propensity of this group to live “exotic” lives in the eyes of
the Portuguese, making the stereotype realize itself. This is especially true in the workplace. Brazilians
work as cultural animators, musicians, dancers and public relations jobs in general – the so called
“joy market” (Machado I. J., 2007, p. 173). It is therefore possible to find examples of “Brazilianness”
(Brasilidade), which is a collection of stereotyped images: samba, football, sexuality and
miscegenation that ends up governing the conduct of the people involved.
So Brazilians are more aware and sensitive about their body, are extroverts, less constrained and
more creative. “The body is an object of cultural materialization, through gestures, dancing,
expression of emotions and sexualities” (Machado I. J., 2007, p. 177). And so have a “natural”
propensity towards football and sex related occupations, but also activities that involve scam,
deceit and untruthful behaviour. Portuguese are “sad”, Brazilians are “joyful”.
Women are particularly affected by stereotyping. There is a sort of national imagery that associates
women to “exuberant”, “sensual”, “easy”. Obviously, these features have negative effects: a
special quality to break up marriages, a prevalence of sexual harassment, and especially,
connections to the leisure and sex industries, particularly evident in Portuguese media’s
amplification of some prostitution and sexual exploitation cases involving Brazilian women.

36. Despite these stereotyping, most Brazilians claim not to have suffered any source of discrimination.
Notwithstanding, workplaces and public and shopping spaces are referred to as places where
discriminatory behaviour is more experienced.
As far as neighbourhood relationships are concerned, Brazilians are viewed as friendly and
34
Portuguese normally place no reservations when asked if they would accept a Brazilian as a
neighbour.
In conclusion, although there are differences between communities and stereotyping, Portuguese
and Brazilian maintain close relations, making use of a clear historical, cultural and linguistic
common ground to share experiences, interact and build reciprocal images. The representations of
the social and community stereotyping between these two communities place no impediments to
their interaction.
Rather, the similarities have been an approaching factor, leading to several processes where the
deconstruction of certain images and stereotypes occur.
Thus, Brazilians have a privileged position in relation to other immigrants. Africans, for example, or
ethnic minorities such as Gypsies, are more clearly subjected to processes of discrimination and
xenophobia in society.