Abstract
In recent times, the European Union’s migration policies have only encouraged phenomena such as social exclusion and marginality due to which migrants find themselves in a situation of inequality regarding most of the rights that native citizens enjoy (Landau, 2019). This has encouraged the rise of pro-social associationism networks (Boccacin, 2012), which enact specific forms of pro-social activism that seem to emerge from the overlapping of phenomena such as humanitarian volunteering and political activism (Rochester et al., 2010; Bartolotta, 2015). Moreover, these forms of activism seem to recall practices of civil disobedience that present a different configuration than in the past in that they are oriented towards sociality, affectivity, compassion and empathy (Casadei, 2008).
The aim of this chapter is to analyse pro-social activism through case studies of some pro-migrant networks present in Sicily, within which short unstructured interview campaigns were conducted targeting board members.
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Notes
- 1.
One of the most relevant issues, which has led to an increase in the multifaceted complexity of society in European Union states, is undoubtedly the integration of migrants in the receiving countries. This complexity has become markedly accentuated due to increased controls on irregular immigration: between 1970 and 1990, an attitude of tolerance towards the process of irregular immigration prevailed in most European countries. More recently, governments in receiving countries have sought to make the areas in which illegal immigrants find refuge more transparent and controllable (Ambrosini, 2013).
- 2.
Civic activism is understood as an organizational phenomenon that encompasses the plurality of forms through which citizens unite, mobilize resources and act in the public policy cycle in order to support individuals in need (Moro, 2010, 3).
- 3.
In this initial phase of the research, a purposive sampling method was used, thanks to which it was possible to select the board members of some pro-migrant networks present in Sicily: ‘Restiamo Umani, Incontriamoci’, the ‘Forum antirazzista di Palermo’ and ‘Sicilia Aperta e Solidale’. The numbers of interviews with the three pro-social networks are detailed as follows: 8 interviews with members of the network ‘Restiamo Umani – Incontriamoci’ (‘Banca Etica’, ‘Associazione culturale I Siciliani Giovani’, ‘Cope Catania’, ‘Circolo Etneo Teresa Mattei’, ‘gruppo Emergency Catania’, ‘Mediterranea Saving Humans Catania’, ‘ManiTese Sicilia’, ‘Lila Catania’); 4 interviews with the members of the ‘Forum antirazzista di Palermo’ (‘Comitato Antirazzista Cobas’, ‘Mediterranea Saving Humans Palermo’, ‘CISS’, ‘Arte Migrante’); and 6 interviews with the members of the regional network ‘Sicilia Aperta e Solidale’ (‘Rete Antirazzista Catanese’, ‘BorderLine Sicilia’, ‘Adif – Associazione diritti e frontiere’, ‘Cobas Scuola Catania’, ‘Onde donne in movimento’, ‘Cooperativa Ethnos’). Short narrative interview campaigns were conducted within these organizations in order to be able to grasp and interpret the meaning attributed to the protest actions implemented by these subjects operating within the pro-social associationism.
- 4.
In order to proceed with the analysis of the aforementioned interviews through the Nvivo programme, it was deemed appropriate to break down these questions into the following aspects or conceptual points: functions, services and type of support provided by the association groups, description of the association network, the value that the networks attribute to the laws on the reception and social integration of migrants, the opinion expressed by the networks on the actions of the political authorities regarding migrants’ issues, the network’s views on moral values and human dignity, the relationships and collaborations between the members of the various pro-migrant associations and between the associations themselves, the description of the network’s actions and strategies, the description of these strategies in relation to state laws, and the network’s actions during the pandemic period.
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Nicolosi, D. (2023). Pro-social Activism: First Evidence from the Protests for Migrants’ Rights in Sicily. In: Daher, L.M. (eds) Democratic Protests and New Forms of Collective Action. Contributions to Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44049-6_12
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