Vincenzo Rosato (a cura di), Dossier: Dinamiche religiose e migrazione / Religious dynamics and migration (Introduzione / Introduction, pp. 2-4), pp. 2-136

Maria Golinelli, Il valore delle appartenenze religiose in una società multietnica / The value of religious affiliations in a multiethnic society, pp. 5-23

The research entitled Churches and migrants: the value of religious affiliation tries to explain the value, for a migrant, of practicing a faith within a religious/church group/community. By adopting a territorial approach, an attempt was made to reconstruct the religious situation in the entire district of Forli, followed by an investigation of some religious groups of particular importance for the number of migrants. Three aspects were investigated: the connections between migration and personal identity, the community dimension associated with being a church, the future of the multiethnic society. The research confirmed that religious faith is a factor of continuity and support which gives coherence to the migrants’ lives, in connection with their past and the transmission of personal history to their children. The community dimension based on a faith in the same god restores dignity to the migrant, independently of his occupational and social position, etc. The religious community is a source of social resources, support, shelter and protection and offers an opportunity for meeting and talking with local believers or those from different countries. The integration model promoted by these communities is, in most cases, that of incorporation: promotion of the person’s integrity (from material needs to social and spiritual needs) and the integrity of the communities involved in this process, transforming churches into spontaneous intercultural workshops based on fraternity, positive interaction and peaceful living together.

Roberto Marinucci, Costruzione dell’identità religiosa nel contesto migratorio. Il caso della migrazione verso il Distretto Federale - Brasile / The creation of a religious identity in the migration context. The case of migration to the Federal District - Brazil, pp. 24-38

The article analyses the connection between geographic displacement and the migrants’ religious identity transformations. In order to explain the various types of identity transformation, the author, after a theoretical introduction, presents the results of a research in the Federal District, done by the Scalabrini Centre of Migration Studies, that reflects on the main changes in the religious identity of the interviewed migrants and their relation to the migratory journey.

Nancy Foner, Richard Alba, Religione dell’immigrato negli Stati Uniti e nell’Europa occidentale: ponte o barriera all’inclusione? / Immigrant religion in the U.S. and Western Europe: bridge or barrier to inclusion?, pp. 39-71

Changes may be afoot in both Western Europe and the United States, but it is likely that, for some time to come, Islam will continue to be problematic in Western Europe, engendering tensions and conflict, just as immigrant religions in the United States will continue to offer an acceptable and easily accessible way for newcomers and their children to fit into American society. And, because the social science literature inevitably reflects the concerns and realities in the societies under study, we can also expect social science work on immigrant religion to continue to be with an emphasis on its positive role in immigrant adjustment and assimilation in the United States and its links to the difficulties of incorporating Muslim immigrants and their children into Western European societies.

Youcef Mammeri, L’Islam nella società francese. Sguardi di un attore musulmano sulle logiche sociali e sulle pratiche istituzionali / Islam in the French society. Views of a Muslim actor in regards to social strategies and institutional practices, pp. 73-90

The author in this article describes the difficult itinerary of bringing the various muslim groups together in order to establish a peaceful and productive dialogue with the French institutions. Because of many cultural factors and political events, it is hard to finally provide an organization and a visibility to Islam in France. Yet, some positive steps have been taken to further discussion and a better understanding between the muslim committee and the political parties, interested in a more active role of the muslim groups in the social and political scenario.

Marcel Maussen, Il modello olandese e l’Islam. Riscoprire la tradizione delle relazioni Stato-Chiesa / Islam and the model of the Netherlands. Re-discovering the traditional relations between Church and State, pp. 91-122

The author analyses the last 30 years of institutional norms and political debate in the Netherlands, regarding the muslim presence in the sectors of the religion practise and identity and education. He tries to explain that the evolution in this area is not a late consequence of the political pillarisation, that was quite common in the country until 1960, but it has to be seen in the perspective of the Church-State relations, that has a much longer history in the Netherlands.

Gennaro Errichiello, Strategie matrimoniali in immigrazione. Analisi di un case-study nella comunità pakistana in Italia / Marriage strategies in migration. Analysis of a case-study within the Pakistan community in Italy, pp. 123-136

The Pakistani community in Italy has never been studied in depth, there is a lack of socio-anthropological research regarding its history and migration routes. In detail, the topic of arranged marriage is a fundamental key to know and study the chain migration of the Pakistanis in diaspora. I have chosen this case-study, as a description of the real life of the community, which can enable us to understand the internal mechanisms and social rules and customs that, as far as they can seem distan from our background, represent the unique tool of understanding and analyses of the Pakistani community. This case-study is a true story of a young woman, who must choose between the man she loves and the one that has been selected for her by her parents.

Franco Pittau, Antonio Ricci, Il superamento di cinque pregiudizi sulla presenza albanese in Italia. Una rilettura di 20 anni di immigrazione / Overcoming the five prejudices regarding the Albanian presence in Italy. An evaluation of 20 years of immigration, pp. 137-150

If we were wrong in considering the Albanians a “cunning group”, probably we are also wrong when we have the same prejudice against the other ethnic groups, or worse against all immigrants. The Albanians, thus, become the paradigm of a possible encounter between the Italian people and immigrants, by overcoming the temptation of nurturing a series of fears towards them. This peaceful perspective can also be a great help for a country like Italy, where immigration is bound to increase considerably, and also for Albania, a country not highly populated where emigration has a great impact.