Localised experiences of diversity and immigrant policies in Italian inner areas

Journal title PRISMA Economia - Società - Lavoro
Author/s Federico Rossi
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2025/2
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 96-114 File size 133 KB
DOI 10.3280/PRI2025-002007
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The growing immigration to peripheral areas presents several challenges for the creation of welcoming communities. Among these, the presumed lack of familiarity with diversity plays a key role. Small rural or peripheral localities are often labelled as new immigration destinations, overlooking other possible diversity experiences, such as emigration and return migration or the presence of localised minorities. This study focuses on inner Italy, using a mixed-methods approach to study how experiences of contact with diversity – alternative to recent immigration flows – can be mobilised for integration policymaking. First, an exploratory qualitative analysis examined the processes of adopting such measures in inner areas through 30 semi-structured interviews with local decision-makers. Such qualitative results formed the basis for hypotheses tested through logistic regression. The article focuses on two particular aspects: local experiences of emigration among local decision-makers and the recognition of historical minorities. These are analysed through two logistic regression models to assess whether the presence of decision-makers of a migration background and the association with linguistic minorities are linked to greater activism in integration policies in inner areas.

Keywords: Integration policies, internal areas, linguistic minorities, diversity, local policies.

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Federico Rossi, Esperienze localizzate di diversità e politiche di integrazione nelle aree interne italiane in "PRISMA Economia - Società - Lavoro" 2/2025, pp 96-114, DOI: 10.3280/PRI2025-002007