Sonja Haug, Frank Heins, Italian Migrants in Germany. A statistical overview and a research bibliographical note

This introduction to the dossier on Italians in Germany gives a statistical overview of migration flows between Italy and Germany and offers a brief survey of scholarly research on the topic. More than 600,000 Italians live today in Germany. The formation of this community is described and its socio-demographic and socio-economic structure is discussed. The changing characteristics of the migration flows between Italy and Germany are emphasised. Recent years saw, especially in Germany, a renewed academic interest in the phenomenon of Italian-German migration and the integration of Italians. The integration in the German school system continues to be one of the most often discussed problems. Where data are available, they show consistently a still problematic situation of the Italian community, compared to other traditional immigrant groups. These findings contrast with the positive image of Italians and their integration in German society. Recent exhibitions and the efforts to establish a German museum on migration are an indication that the period of traditional (Italian) “guest worker” migration is coming to an end. The Italian community in Germany will continue to be characterised by this traditional migration process, but new, more modern, elements will increasingly play a role.

Cristina Allemann-Ghionda, Le ragioni dell’insuccesso dei ragazzi italiani nel sistema scolastico tedesco e le possibili soluzioni / Underachievement of Italian students in the German education system: feasible solutions

European research into the factors which contribute to migrant chldren’s school achievement has developed several explanation models. Currently, the most convincing model appears to be a systemic one in which the individuals (pupils, parents, teachers), class interactions as well as meso- and macro-level variables influence each other. Recent quantitative research results have shown that in German schools ethnic groups achieve differently. Statistically speaking, Italian migrant children are not among the most successful pupils. At the same time, a minority of Italian pupils, especially those belonging to the second and third generation, achieve very well. Research results are not able to reveal the causes of poor achievement highlighting the correlation between the kind and level of school and the ethnic origin. Further research has to focus what happens in the classroom at the micro level, comparing the interaction of teachers with pupils of different origins, in order to fill the systemic model mentioned above with sociocultur- ally specific and gender specific data. Moreover, longitudinal studies, also ethnically differentiated, must be done in order to follow school careers. Meanwhile, the author combines what is known about the school achievement or misachievement of Italian pupils in Germany and other immigration countries and formulates four hypotheses. The last section of the paper contains perspectives in the fields of research, reform and pedagogical intervention.

Sonja Haug, Education and vocational training of Italian Migrants in Germany. The role of family social capital in the creation of human capital

The article summarizes results of the report on ‘Education and vocational training of Italians in Germany’ drafted 2003 for the International Training Center of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in co-operation with the Centro Studi Emigrazione Roma (CSER). A description of the development and actual trends of educational attainment of Italian students in Germany is given on the basis of official statistics and survey data. Compared with Germans and other immigrant nationalities Italians in general obtain lower school degrees. The results on Italians descending from German-Italian families give new insights in the integration process of second generation immigrants. Different approaches for the explanation of education of migrants are discussed. An integrated model including structural conditions, the education system, socio-economic factors, cultural or ethnic aspects and migration biographies with a special focus on the intergenerational transmission of family social capital is proposed.

René Leicht, Markus Leiss, Silke Fehrenbach, Social and Economic Characteristics of Self-employed Italians in Germany

Although research has recently grown with respect to immigrant self-employment, there is still little empirical information on the situation of self-employed immigrants in Germany, and even less on the position of single nationalities. The following article presents findings on the social and economic characteristics of Italian self-employed in Germany in comparison to the characteristics of German and other immigrant self-employed, as well as Italian employees in Germany. Italians, representing a large and widely accepted immigrant group in Germany, display a strong attitude to start self-employment activities – particularly, as gastronomers and retail traders. Their propensity to work on their own account is even stronger than that of Germans, although they have to work longer hours to run their businesses. On the other hand, however, their qualification level, on average, is very low; consequently, the majority of them can be found in labour-intensive and highly competitive economic sectors that are also characterised by high risk of business failure.

Edith Pichler, La partecipazione ai diritti di cittadinanza politica degli Italiani in Germania / The participation to citizenship rights of Italians in Germany

The mutual agreement between the two countries – Italy and Germany – about the employment of Italian guest workers became undersigned in 1955. Since then almost 50 years have passed and now in Germany we find a second or third generation of Italians. Which type of inclusion or exclusion the Italian community has to experience living in the German society? In particular which sort of participation is open to Italians with respect to political rights of citizenship? In the sixties and seventies it was possible for foreigners in Germany – that is to say for Italians – to participate through the system of welfare in the social rights of citizenship, which by engagement in trade unions indirectly had a political dimension of participation. In the last years however the economical and social processes have put an end to this possibility of inclusion. In absence of this indirect form of political inclusion the immigrants are excluded of a greater participation in the rights of citizenship. However only political influence makes it possible to realize a more ample participation in for example the social rights of citizenship.

Frank Heins, Hermann Breuer, The local dimension of immigrant communities in Germany. The case of Italians in Cologne

The local dimension of migration and integration patterns of Italians, and obviously also of other nationalities, plays an important role in identifying the problems and opportunities linked to these processes. The city of Cologne is home to one of the most numerous Italian communities (more than 20,000) in Germany. A first part focuses on the formation and regional distribution of the Italian community. The educational system and the labour market are important dimensions regarding the integration of immigrants in the local society and are chosen for a statistical analysis of the situation of Italians in Cologne. In comparison to other nationalities, Italians continue to under perform in the school system of Cologne. The restructuring of the economy of Cologne during the last decades, as in many other industrial areas of Germany, let to an important decrease of employment opportunities in the Fordist production sector to the detriment of the average low qualified Italian guest worker. The article concludes with a plea for continuous efforts towards the integration of (Italian) immigrants in the local society, its educational system, the labour market, involving the local administration, the German population and the immigrants.

Ursula Apitzsch, Dal “lavoro ospite” al “lavoro autonomo”. Esperienze generazionali e differenze sociali nei lavoratori migranti e nei loro figli / From “gastarbaiter” to “self-employed”. Generational experiences and social inequalities of migrant workers and their children

In February 2005 it will be 50 years that the Italian and the German government signed the first contract for the recruitment of Italian guest workers in Germany. More than half a million Italian citizens have been living permanently in Germany for several decades by now. Despite these facts, our knowledge about the quality of life of this part of the German population is not very well founded. Whereas the news media and commonly held belief regard Italians as very well integrated, the few scientific reports on the schooling level reached by Italian pupils and about the professional careers of members of the second and third generation reveal that many of them are disadvantaged in comparison with other parts of the population. This article makes an effort to explain these heterogeneous findings. Firstly, the paper aims at identifying the different experiences of the first and the second generation. Secondly, the paper tries to explain how the two different generations were coping with the difficulties and the new chances of the trans- national space that has developed as a biographical structure. Thirdly, the paper refers to the outcomes of an ongoing EU project on “The Chances of the Second Generation in Families of Ethnic Entrepreneurs” in order to explain the vast social inequalities between Italian inhabitants in Germany nowadays.

Yvonne Rieker, Gli emigrati dal Sud Italia in Germania: allo stesso tempo “parte integrante” e “stranieri”. La prospettiva delle storie di vita / Migrants from Southern Italy to Germany: between “integration” and “foreigness”. The perspectives of life histories

For years a state of indecision was a characteristic of the Italian immigration to Germany. Many Italian migrants postponed the decision whether to stay in Germany permanently or to return to Italy some day. This influenced in a considerable way the lifestyle of not only the first, but also the second generation of migrants. This paper investigates the impact of the migration process on the expectations and experiences of the migrants’ lives. Moral values from their country of origin underwent critical revaluation by the migrants during the course of migration because of the experience of new value patterns. Acculturation led to wholly new and individually formed constructions of identities based on transnational experiences and knowledge. Over the years the aims of migration changed considerably. Short term projects were extended as was the time of migration. A most crucial period for a decision leading to permanent settlement in Germany was the education of children and job recruitment, which made a return to Italy increasingly difficult. A definite decision to stay in Germany nevertheless was accompanied by a renewed changing and legitimisation of migration aims. Thus the Italian migrants’ constructions of identity have been in permanent transition and very complex in their patterns. Migration remains a project with no definite ending for the first as well as for the second generation of migrants.

Maria Golinelli, La casa degli immigrati: significati, diritti, problemi e prospettive / Immigrants’ housing: meanings, rights, problems and perspectives

The immigrants’ housing: meanings, rights, problems and perspectives in non-metropolitan territories. The house has numerous fundamental meanings in the life, biological and relational of every man. For the immigrant, that has to learn to combine the meanings of his/her own culture of origin with those of the host society, the house is also necessary to enjoy sure fundamental rights, as it establishes the italian legislation on immigration. The house of the immigrants is also a fundamental mean for the integration, but to think to house as catalyst of the integration means to reconsider the same concept of house: from physical space in which to manage the survival, to space affective-relational. In a problematic national market of the lodgings the house of the immigrants is often however a critical element that mines to the base every process of possible integration. The article try to reconstruct the positions of the norms in vigor in Italy and the principal consequences that the legislative formulations have in the life of the immigrants. Considering the emergent phenomenon of diffusion of the foreign presences in the non-metropolitan territories, the essay introduce some results of a search in progress on the housing integration of the immigrants in an Appennine area of Emilia Romagna.