Empowerment of young migrants in Italy through nonformal education: putting equality into practice

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to describe how the engagement of so-defined second-generation migrants in nonformal education projects can play a key role in their upward mobility and in their participation in present-day Italian society. This happens also because the simplistic intercultural approach towards young migrants, underpinned in the EU youth policy for many years, has been problematized by the intersectional approach. The paper challenges the definition 'second-generation youth', which exacerbates differences among young people, in contraposition to Italian young people without migration background. Finally, it describes a best practice that took place in Italy some years ago, concluding that relations and patterns of participation are much more complicated than traditional dichotomies based on different discrimination grounds.

Exploring the conceptualization and research of empowerment in the field of youth

“…(3) Empowerment and education. few authors fail to connect, in one way or another, the processes of empowerment with (1) education and learning (Bacqué & Biewener, 2013;Bates, 2006;Bello, 2011;fortunati, 2014;lemmer, 2009;Mackinnon & Stephens, 2010;Mohajer & earnest, 2009;Shirazi, 2011;Tremblay & Gutberlet, 2010); (2) the acquisition of knowledge and skills (Agudo & Albornà, 2011;hennink et al, 2012;Mohajer & earnest, 2009;Özmete, 2011); 3the acquisition of capabilities Wagaman, 2011;World Bank, 2006, p. 298 5 ); (4) the acquisition of some kind of resources; and, finally, (5) awareness, (Mackinnon & Stephens, 2010;Quiroga & Alonso, 2011;zambrano, 2007) which is often associated with the ideas of freire (Breton, 2008;Mohajer & earnest, 2009;Wang, 2006;Wong, 2008).…”

“…• Participation (Agudo & Albornà, 2011;chinman & linney, 1998, p. 901 16 ;Kaplan et al, 2009;Morton & Montgomery, 2012) • Promotion (Bello, 2011) • Dialogue (Jennings et al, 2008) • Support, accompaniment or advocacy (Agudo & Albornà, 2011;Jennings et al, 2008;Kaplan et al, 2009) • Acquisition of capabilities through education (Garriga Tella, 2014;Gong & Wright, 2007;Wang, 2006) These core ideas and the initiatives and activities implemented around them are simultaneously implemented by various agents, such as the family, community, government, culture and religion (Kaplan et al, 2009), taking it as given that it is the State, as the reference framework of policies, that catalyses, implements, supports or promotes such actions. According to Stanton-Salazar (2010), institutional agencies -as agents of empowerment -facilitate and enable the development of key survival strategies for young people; these are mentioned in terms of problem-solving, seeking help and guidance, social abilities and instrumental behaviour aimed at overcoming institutional barriers and the conditions of a harmful environment (Stanton-Salazar, 2010).…”

Introducción al número especial

“…An expanding range of methodological approaches and tools are becoming evident in efforts to access these 'moments', or vital conjunctures. Some of the more common techniques include the theatre of the oppressed and dance laboratories (Bello, 2011), wherein issues are acted out and understood intrinsically; storytelling (Guerrero and Tinkler, 2010), vignette writing and scenario development (Ramirez et al, 2015) as ways to weave together storylines, in-depth case-studies and hypothetical situations; blogging and web experiences (Marselis, 2013); children's drawings and depictions of self and families (White et al, 2010); and reflexive analysis of power dynamics and positionality of researchers (McGarry, 2016).…”