New Italians: Managing the Ambivalence of Living in Transcultural Spaces

The paper analyses the implication of living in transcultural (or topological) spaces. It focuses on how globalization processes are changing the ideas of locality, how such changes give cultural difference a specific relevance, and how they affect the idea of belonging and citizenship. Based on a series of qualitative research on the children of immigrants in Italy, it shows how cultural difference is becoming an important political tool young people can (and must) use to deal with ambivalence, uncertainty, complexity, and changes that characterize their everyday experiences. The paper examines how the children of immigrants in Italy are using cultural difference in their everyday relations to claim recognition and respect, as well as inclusion and participation. New forms of belonging and citizenship are emerging that contribute to giving new meanings to “being Italians” and highlight innovative ways of connecting agency and structural constrains, innovation and traditions, and rights and duties.