Antonio Golini, Salvatore Strozza, Gerardo Gallo, Population trends and migratory pressure in the European Economic Area and the Euro-Middle East-Africa Regions

The process of globalization of international migrations has highlighted the complex relationships among different areas, populations, economies, societies and cultures so that the analysis of the future migration scenarios envisions very important migration changes both in sending and destination countries. For these reasons, the essay analyses the future migration scenarios beyond the individual countries or limited areas. By following this approach, much attention has been focused on a broad area of the planet centered on the Mediterranean Basin. In this area, the Authors have considered, on the one hand, a group of potential host countries of old and new immigration, belonging, in a slightly broader context, to the European Economic Area (the European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland). On the other hand, it has been embraced a very large area of migration push countries consisting of the Euro-Middle East-Africa Region (the countries of Eastern Europe, Western Asian, North African and Sub-Saharan Africa). Looking at the UN projections of individual countries from 1980 to 2020, the article has highlighted, over the coming years, the dramatic process of population decline and the aging of the workforce (aged 20- 39) in some European countries (with much faster patterns in Italy). On the contrary, the countries of Central Africa, in the Sub-Saharan region, have been showed an opposite trend in terms of both absolute and relative change. The growing number of the working population of the African countries (especially in the young age group), will produce a demographic imbalance between the countries of the North and those of the South of the Mediterranean Basin. The first "north" offered to the populations of black Africa could in the future probably be Mediterranean Africa. Even though the pressure currently felt by the Maghreb countries is still slight or absent, the Authors argues that over the coming years the flows towards this area will increase considerably, producing a direct impact on Mediterranean countries of Europe.

Jordi Garreta Bochaca, The process of consolidation of the Islamic communities of Catalonia (Spain)

The immigration into the Spanish region of Catalonia in the last thirty years has led, among other things, to an increase in religious diversity. In this context, Islam, although already present in Spain, has been taking giant steps towards consolidation and social recognition. This article analyses the process of consolidation of the Islamic communities in Catalonia from an empirical study based on in-depth interviews with imams in the oratories, or prayer halls. It focuses on the description of the situation of the oratories and the role of the imam, a definition of the users, an analysis of how they experience the articulation of their culture and religion in a theoretically lay society. Apart from the detection of around a hundred prayer centres created principally during the 1990s, it is especially interesting to observe the role of these in the reconstruction of the Muslim community in the place and their effect on the community identity in a "hostile" context which, on occasions, had been left in the background (or even deliberately hidden). This idea of hostile is in the sense of a society with a limited Muslim presence. In these circumstances, given the fear of a loss of culture and identity, the prayer centres become points of cohesion as well as places for the maintenance and transmission of culture and "anti-secularisation". The control and proselytism carried out from oratories are setting out the future structure of Islam in Catalonia, nowadays characterised by heterogeneity and lack of co-ordination, as well as making it probable that the coming years will represent a period of adjustment between the cultures and religions of the immigrants and the dominant one of the host society.

Vittorio Filippi, Quando gli immigrati diventano imprenditori: la realtà dell’artigianato in Veneto e a Treviso

The research focuses on the presence and role of immigrants becoming entrepreneurs in artisan economy of Veneto, the second most industrialized and artisan region in Italy. Nowadays there are 2.537 foreign craftsmen in Veneto, mostly coming from Eastern Europe (44%) and Asia. The main flows are originated by China, by the countries of former Yugoslavia (above all Macedonia), by Morocco and Albania. Comparing the number of migrant entrepreneurs with the homogeneous relevant populations living in Veneto, we obtain a sort of index of inclination to entrepreneurship. China ranks first, followed by Macedonia, while Albanians, Romanians, and Moroccans show low rates of entrepreneurship and, we may assume, a stronger inclination for subordinate jobs. It is interesting to notice how building and garment industry are preferred by the so-called "ethnic business". In particular, East Europeans are numerous in building, while Chineses prevail in garment and also in food industry and catering. The number of migrant entrepreneurs in Veneto is rising very quickly: only in the two last years one half (52%) of the total regional artisan entrepreneurial force was covered by foreigners. Certainly,we are at the beginning of a cultural and economic phenomenon already well known in other European countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom. It can be foreseene a speedy growth of migrant entrepreneurs in the Venetian region. This will be a good opportunity to orient the generation of new entrepreneurship within an economic postfordist frame in which men able to assume and to manage risk and uncertainty will be more and more necessary for incoming local development steps.