The pretext of the veil. Identity practices of young Muslim women in Italy

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Gaia Peruzzi, Marco Bruno, Alessandra Massa
Publishing Year 2020 Issue 2020/1
Language Italian Pages 25 P. 49-73 File size 250 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2020-001004
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The study narrated in this work aimed to investigate, through the practices of young Muslims women, and the subsequent narratives, the attribution of cultural meanings to the veil, as the translation of such practices into devices of relational display. The unveiling of cultural identities through ordinary praxis - such as clothing - is, in fact, a powerful entry point for the exploration of cultural and social changing. Interviews with a total of eighty-nine young second generations women, from six Italian cities (Rome, Bologna, Milan, Padua, Turin, Cagliari, Palermo), contributed to explain the multiple significances of the veil. Interviews demon-strate how Islamic women’s agency derives from individual and rational choices, with an important rational component, from which take place personalized and flexible patterns, where identity processes, cultural claims, and everyday politics melt.

Keywords: Veil; cultural practices; identity; Islam; second generations; gender.

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Gaia Peruzzi, Marco Bruno, Alessandra Massa, Il pretesto del velo. Pratiche identitarie di giovani donne musulmane in Italia in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 1/2020, pp 49-73, DOI: 10.3280/MM2020-001004