British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Migration to contemporary Rome: work, settlement and social exclusion
Professor David Forgacs (Research Professor at the British School at Rome, and Professor of Italian at University College London) on behalf of the British School at Rome
A screening and discussion of extracts from filmed interviews with Romanians living in Rome today.
This research is one of the contemporary strands of David Forgacs’ three-year project on ‘Language, space and power in Italy since 1800’, funded by the British Academy, which he is carrying out at the British School at Rome from 2006 to 2009.
For further information, visit: www.bsr.ac.uk
Summary
The greater Rome area is now the largest migration pole in Italy. 5% of its population consists of people who have moved from other countries - the same as the EU average, 1% higher than the average for Italy as a whole. The countries of origin of the three largest groups of foreign nationals in Rome are currently Romania, Philippines and Poland.
In my recent fieldwork I have been focusing on Romanians, examining where they settle, what work they do, how have been described in the local media and how they describe themselves. I have filmed some of them talking about their expectations, their neighbours and their perceptions of Italy. One of the most interesting findings has been that recently- arrived Romanians often internalize and reproduce negative stereotypes of Romanians circulating in the media and in the conversations of Roman people. I will present and discuss some of the filmed results of this research at the Showcase event.
Acknowledgements
Accademia di Romania in Roma, Caritas Roma, CESTIM (Centro Studi Immigrazione) Verona, Gazeta Româneasca.