Thrown into the world: The shift between pavlova and pasta in the ethnic identity of Australians originating from Italy

Abstract

Forty-one years on from Huber’s study exploring the assimilation of Italian-Australians, an increasing trend towards ethnic revival can be observed among the third generation of immigrants. Drawing on a case study of a family originating from Calabria in the 1950s and now living in Adelaide, South Australia, I find a widespread intergenerational identification of ethnicity as ‘being Italian’, which has different meanings across the three generations, depending on the individual’s phenomenological perception of being thrown into the world. A pivotal role in this shift of ethnic identity is played by what I refer to as institutional positionality, the individuals’ perceptions of the position of their ethnic ‘being in the world’. By merging sociology of migration, including the Bourdieusian conceptual apparatus of capital, with Heidegger’s existential theory, a reflexive framework is developed that takes into account the relevance of ontology in the field of migration.

Navigating the ethnic boundary: From ‘in-between’ to plural ethnicities among Thai middle-class migrant women in Hong Kong

“…More recent scholarship on migration has suggested that migrants’ ethnic identity is fluid and ‘in-between’ (Ahmed, 2005; Ip, 2008; Marino, 2019; Ng, 2016; Van Zevern, 1995; Vasquez, 2010). Transnationalism literature concurs that a borderless identity and sense of belonging among migrants and migrant children is not only common but also necessary because of the multiple options and unlimited mobility offered by a post-territorial and globalized socio-economic and socio-cultural setting.…”

Stumbling upon places and cultures: An involuntary ethnography in researching the Australian ‘ndrangheta

“…It is worth reiterating here how for cultural norms to be exploited, these cultural norms must be indeed well ingrained in the community. Obligations, expectations, and behavioral dispositions across families in Calabrian and Italian communities are inherited and maintained (albeit in an integrated or hybrid Australian way) as a peculiar way of being and doing (Marino, 2019c;Marino, 2020a). Ethnic solidarity is part of the identity of Calabrians and Italians in Australia as abroad (Harney, 2006) and, as already argued elsewhere (Sergi, 2021) can become a reason why certain individuals might feel obliged to-and be exploited into-support other "co-regionals/co-nationals" and become involved into complex webs of criminal or semicriminal activities.…”

“…Even more so, we could look at the ways in which newer generations of Australian-born of Calabrian origins perceived their Calabrian background in Australia because this might have a direct impact on the reasons why 'ndrangheta behaviors are not only inherited by family blood (as it's the case in Calabria/Italy) by might also be chosen-to a certain extent-by younger generations. Indeed, if it is true that idolization, romanticization, and ethnical revival of Calabrian roots is not uncommon among younger generations (Marino, 2019c), then these are all strong elements to explain why among these Calabrian roots also 'ndrangheta roots persist.…”