Books by Riccardo Armillei
This book deals with the social exclusion of Romanies (‘Gypsies’) in Italy. Based on interviews w... more This book deals with the social exclusion of Romanies (‘Gypsies’) in Italy. Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Civil Society Organisations’ (CSOs) representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, the volume focuses on the conditions of those living in Rome’s urban slums and on the recent implementation of the so-called ‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (Nomad Emergency). The enactment of this extraordinary measure concealed the existence of a long-established institutional tradition of racism and control directed at Romanies. It was not the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, but rather of a precise government strategy. By providing an investigation into the interactions between Romanies, local institutions and CSOs, this book will deliver a new perspective on the Romani issue by arguing that the ‘camp’ is not only a tool for institutional control and segregation, but also for ‘resistance’, as well as a huge business in which everyone plays their part.
Much has been said about Italian migration to Australia of the 1950s and 1960s but little is know... more Much has been said about Italian migration to Australia of the 1950s and 1960s but little is known or understood of the new, young, skilled and educated Italian migrants of the current period. This book, which is a product of more than 24 months of investigation into this recent migratory phenomenon, addresses this deficiency by bringing a broader appreciation to many aspects of Italian temporary and permanent residency to Australia. While addressing the meaning and extent of the growing temporary and permanent migration to Australia from 2004 until late 2015, this book contains a wide range of expertise and opinions that help explain this mostly unexplored topic. Relevant authorities and scholars of migration to Australia will find this volume and its timely appearance extremely helpful in uncovering a myriad of concerns, events and consequences of this migration flow, possibly leading to some remedies and redress to outstanding contemporary issues.
The report From 2004 to 2016 – A new Italian ‘exodus’ to Australia? is looking at a new period of... more The report From 2004 to 2016 – A new Italian ‘exodus’ to Australia? is looking at a new period of Italian migration to Australia, quite different from the mass migration of the 1950s and 1960s. This study investigates the different and varied features of this new wave of Italian migration to Australia to ascertain its characteristics, components, and whether there are matters of further consideration. This research began on the premise that there was a growing Italian migration and that it needed to be investigated. The approach was to establish the facts as well as the life experiences to pinpoint developments not yet widely known or understood. The new migration experience is different from the past as in most cases it started as an adventure of a new emerging cohort of Italians wishing to migrate to Australia.
Academic Journals by Riccardo Armillei
In Italy Romani peoples have been subjected to social exclusion and marginalisation for centuries... more In Italy Romani peoples have been subjected to social exclusion and marginalisation for centuries. Romanies are generally viewed as either victims or threats, narrowing the range of responses to charity or hostility. The growing attention to Romani-related issues, both nationally and internationally, led to the establishment of a complex system that a range of actors found appetising: private and public, left- and right-wing political alignments, Romani and non-Romani. All these agents have been involved, to differing degrees, in transforming the Romani issue into a ‘solidarity market’ in which it is very hard to know exactly how funds are actually used. In this context, competition and antagonisms, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, and inefficiencies have all contributed over the years to producing and maintaining the present living situation of the Romani peoples. As well as the top-down approach adopted by government and NGOs, this study also uncovers the exist...
This paper focuses on Romani and Aboriginal peoples who live at the margins of Italian and Austra... more This paper focuses on Romani and Aboriginal peoples who live at the margins of Italian and Australian societies, often in city ‘camps’ that show signs of institutional abandonment, neglect and extreme decay. To address this socio-economic disadvantage and improve the quality of life, the governments of these two countries have implemented what we have defined ‘parallel emergencies’, extraordinary policy measures of intervention, surveillance and control. This paper argues that these policies that aim to improve the everyday lives of Romani and Aboriginal peoples, however, often re-produce a ‘tradition’ of institutionalised racism that can be traced back to the post-Unification period in Italy and the Federation period in Australia. By drawing on the work of Giorgio Agamben, we highlight the approach adopted by Italian and Australian institutions in terms of ‘inclusive exclusion’. On the one hand, the government makes significant investment in schooling and employment projects; on the other, it keeps promoting the use of emergency measures, which leaves slender scope for Romani and Aboriginal voices.
Asylum-seekers constitute a small percentage of the entire Italian and Australian populations and... more Asylum-seekers constitute a small percentage of the entire Italian and Australian populations and the volume of the claims recorded in these two countries is below those of many other industrialized and non-industrialized countries. Although the tendency is to frame this issue as 'moral panic' and to implement 'emergency' measures, this article argues that this attitude conceals a long-established institutional tradition of racism and control directed not only at asylum-seekers, but against 'otherized' communities. By drawing on Smooha's (2009) concept of 'ethnic democracy', we suggest that the legacies of 'White Australia' and 'Fascist Italy' continue to play a key role in fostering new ethnocentric 'Italian' and 'Australian' identities.
This article deals with the social exclusion of Romanies/ 'Gypsies' in Italy and the recent imple... more This article deals with the social exclusion of Romanies/ 'Gypsies' in Italy and the recent implementation of a state of emergency, the so-called Emergenza Nomadi (Nomad Emergency). It provides an investigation of the interactions between local institutions, civil society organisations and Romani people inside the so called campi nomadi (nomad camps) in Rome. The major contribution of this study is that it reveals the existence of a deeply rooted mechanism of marginalisation – the 'camps system' – in which corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, inefficiencies and antago-nisms between a variety of competing actors have contributed to reify and crystallise the Romani condition.
For many years Italy has been described as a country of emigration. Only since the 1970s Italy ha... more For many years Italy has been described as a country of emigration. Only since the 1970s Italy has moved from being a net exporter of migrants to a net importer. Despite growing cultural and religious diversity, the implications of the pluralisation of the Italian society on national identity have been largely ignored. Italy has been recently described as a country without an established model of integration or pluralism. 1 The so called 'Italian way' towards cultural diversity remained predominantly theoretical in character and not supported officially, in the sense of being incorporated into the nation's history (as it is in Canada or Australia). The rise of 'ethnonationalism' and legacies of past colonialism contributed to create an institutional notion of supposed 'Italianness', which is based on the exclusion of the 'Other'. During the Liberal and Fascist periods, colonialism was used to create and reproduce a strong sense of nationhood, re-composing the many internal divisions by racialising 'otherness' outside rather than inside the nation's borders. This study suggests that, due to historical amnesia and a weak national identity, a similar logic is now informing the implementation of anti-immigration policies in Italy.
Italy is increasingly a major destination for asylum seekers arriving by boat. In this context, t... more Italy is increasingly a major destination for asylum seekers arriving by boat. In this context, the construction of a threat as “moral panic”, the idea of “national insecurity,” have been used by politicians to justify the implementation of “emergency” measures towards them. The aim of this study is to investigate the way so-called “boat people” are constructed as a pervasive threat to Italian national security. By doing so, it argues that the adoption of highly restrictive measures should be interpreted as the government's own incapacity to address this issue and to conform to its obligations under international human rights law, rather than resulting from the urgency of the situation itself. This paper will also place the Italian case in the context of European Union (EU) policy framework on asylum seekers. Thus, it will explore in a critical manner the literature emanating from the EU and its grandstanding purpose and failure to impose a normative understanding and cohesive polity on the matter of the asylum seekers. Ultimately, the lack of a truly European approach has impacted on the failure of the Italian government to address this issue.
The evolutionary processes of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and its associated political transforma... more The evolutionary processes of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and its associated political transformations have been and still remain highly unpredictable and almost impossible to systematically account for. This paper explores the conditions that allowed Tunisia, the birth place of the ‘Arab Spring,’ to achieve successful democratising outcomes in comparison to its neighbours across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The paper will also offer some analysis of future scenarios for socio-political developments based on current context and projected outlook. This paper argues that one of the key ingredients that allowed a relatively peaceful ‘political transition’ in Tunisia is the constructive approach to consensus politics adopted by the key political actors including the Islamist Party Ennahda. Consensus politics created what can be termed an ‘authentic Tunisian approach,’ a combination of political pragmatism, acceptance of power-sharing and a progressive social positioning in key national debates.
By exploring how the Assyrian and Romani genocides came to be forgotten in official history and c... more By exploring how the Assyrian and Romani genocides came to be forgotten in official history and collective memory, this paper takes a step towards redress for years of inadvertent neglect and deliberate concealment. In addressing the roles played by scholars and nations, and the effect of international law and government policy, it notes the inaccessibility of evidence, combined with a narrow application of definitions of victim groups, and a focus on written proof of perpetrator intent. Continuing persecution of survivors in the aftermath of the genocides, and government actions to erase the genocides from history, are common to both cases. The dimension of a comparative analysis between two emblematic " hidden " genocides shows that there are many similarities in the process of forgetting that occurred in their respective aftermaths. Developing an understanding of how these genocides came to be ignored and forgotten may provide a foundation for genuine acknowledgment and redress.
This article focuses on the Romani people who live at the margins of Italian society, often in ci... more This article focuses on the Romani people who live at the margins of Italian society, often in city camps that show signs of institutional abandonment, neglect and extreme decay. Every year, large amounts of public money are spent on managing these camps, whetting the appetites of various institutions, both private and public. Consequently, the Romani issue has turned into a business involving hundreds of employees in which it is very hard to know exactly how funds are actually used. However, as well as the top-down approach adopted by the Government and its agents, this study also uncovers the existence of a bottom-up opposition expressed by the Romani communities living in camps. The Romani camp dwellers have recently been described as ‘fighters’ or ‘warriors’ in the sense that they have learned to take advantage of their marginal conditions. The daily struggle to make the best of a bad situation might be interpreted as a form of resistance. Inside the camps, Romanies now occupy an in-between position, partly imposed on them by outside forces and partly the consequence of their own volition. While standing on the side of the subjugated and against a hierarchy which produces and reproduces injustice, this article examines how Romani camp dwellers have managed to exercise what remains to them of their free agency.
This paper presents the case of the Romanies in Italy and the
‘forgotten’ nature of their genocid... more This paper presents the case of the Romanies in Italy and the
‘forgotten’ nature of their genocide. The crimes committed by the Fascist regime towards these peoples during the Second World War were not disclosed until recently. In past decades it was commonly believed that Fascism had targeted Romanies merely as a problem of ‘public order’, rather than as a racial issue. This study argues that a lack of official acknowledgement, together with recent authoritarian approaches towards them (such as the introduction of 2008 ‘Nomad Emergency’ and the ongoing adoption of the highly criticized ‘camps policy’), could all be interpreted as an indirect consequence of the government’s incapacity to deal with a shameful past and its unbroken ties. The existence of ‘gaps’ in Italian collective memory is now harming the health of Italy’s democratic polity, allowing racism to re-emerge, while resuscitating a deep-seated belief in the ‘legendary
generosity’ of Italians.
Romani peoples currently live at the margins of the Italian society, particularly those living in... more Romani peoples currently live at the margins of the Italian society, particularly those living in the so called “nomad camps”. The government has only recently focused attention on the situation of this minority group. In 2011 a “National Strategy” was launched introducing a number of measures to enhance their social inclusion. This commitment, though, was a cynical response to a larger European Union initiative designed to address the causes of their marginalisation, and was not supported by any real intention to introduce change. In 2008, in fact, the Italian government introduced an extraordinary intervention, the “Nomad Emergency”, as a response to a number of supposedly threatening situations which occurred among the Romani communities living in “camps”, but also as part of a larger anti-immigrant national campaign. At the end of 2012, when fieldwork for this study was conducted, the negative effect produced by the state of emergency was still clearly visible. Instead of building capacity and autonomy among the Romanies, the Italian institutions chose to adopt highly contradictory approaches which neither included, nor absolutely excluded them. They now have a distinctive place within the Italian society. Millions of euros are spent every year on Romani-related issues, and it has become a huge business both in public and private sectors. The aim of this paper is to examine the contradictions embedded in the production of Romanies as “nomads”, a term which positions them as being unwilling or unable to settle within the host society. My analysis highlights the approach adopted by Italian institutions in terms of “inclusive exclusion” of the Romanies, instead of thinking about it as mere “othering”, marginalisation or exclusion. On the one hand, the government makes significant investment in schooling and employment projects; on the other, it keeps promoting the “camp policy”, forced evictions and emergency measures. Public funds are used in this way to promote a “fake” inclusion, which creates and perpetuates a system of “welfare dependency”.
The main aim of this article is to discuss present multicultural practice in Australia. It focuse... more The main aim of this article is to discuss present multicultural practice in Australia. It focuses on the particular circumstances of the Romani community within the national policy framework. I will present the result of fieldwork regarding this ethnic group while drawing, at the same time, attention to the educational system and its capacity of dealing with ethnic and cultural diversity. In the first section, I briefly trace the history of multicultural theories in Australia, illustrating its main characteristics and the main phases of its development. I focus in particular on the gap existing between theory and practice of the multicultural discourse and the need for a new government approach. The second section highlights the situation of the Romani community using the findings of the fieldwork I conducted in Australia, mainly in Melbourne, over the last year. Finally, in the last section, I analyse the role of education within a multicultural framework focusing on the way the needs of a culturally diverse school population, and particularly in relation to the Romani community, are addressed in order to guarantee an equitable distribution of learning outcomes.
The Romani peoples today occupy a marginalised position in Italian society. A small number of th... more The Romani peoples today occupy a marginalised position in Italian society. A small number of these peoples live in ‘camps’ in conditions of extreme decay and abandonment. In order to address this situation and to improve these peoples’ lives, the Italian government has recently decided to implement an ‘extraordinary intervention.’ In 2008, in continuity with previous centre-left governments, the Berlusconi right-wing coalition implemented the so called
‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (nomad emergency). The state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that had been already categorised in the 1970s as the ‘problema nomadi’ (nomads problem), and was now described and handled as a ‘natural disaster.’ Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Third Sector representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, this article argues that the enactment of an extraordinary measure was both disproportionate to the real degree of threat, and perpetuated an institutional tradition of racism and control of the Romani peoples. It was not, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action. The ‘emergency’ and the premises for the implementation of a ‘state of exception’ were created by protracted institutional immobility and political vacuum.
Book Chapters by Riccardo Armillei
According to the World Bank, in 2013 more than 215 million people were living outside their count... more According to the World Bank, in 2013 more than 215 million people were living outside their countries of birth, and the United Nations Population Fund outlined that if all international migrants lived in the same place they would constitute the world’s fifth most populous country. In other words, the world’s migrant population is greater than at any other time in history and is expected to grow further. As a result of this ever-increasing human mobility, cultural diversity is a fait accompli. For this reason the mission of the Alfred Deakin Research Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADRI-CG), since its inception in 2001, has been to work towards fostering intercultural understanding, human rights and social inclusion through transformative action research and within multidisciplinary approaches. Further, the Institute is mindful that academic work alone is not enough to effect lasting change in both policy and practice, and as such continually seeks strategic partnerships...
Post-war emigration of Italians to Australia contributed greatly to the transformation of Austral... more Post-war emigration of Italians to Australia contributed greatly to the transformation of Australian society. This is a long standing and well documented phenomenon in migration literature. Since 1971 Italian migration to Australia substantially declined but did not cease. Particularly with the introduction in 2004 of the Working Holiday (WH) agreement between Australia and Italy, a slow but constant increase of ‘new Italian migrants’ could be recorded. Yet, little is still known or understood of the new, young, skilled and educated migrants of the last decade. To address this deficiency, this study is designed to establish the reality of the current levels of this new migratory phenomenon, which is qualitatively different in quantity and characteristics from the previous mass migration. This chapter is based on a survey of Italians who had arrived in Australia after 2004. Between January and May 2016, more than six hundred online surveys were collected from this cohort of migrants. This research thus explores the nature of this new migration, its differences from the traditional and existing Italian-Australian community, the social inclusion process and ensuing options, opportunities and problems.
Italian migration is a long standing and well documented phenomenon in migration literature. Howe... more Italian migration is a long standing and well documented phenomenon in migration literature. However, in the last decades of the 20th century Italians ceased migrating as they had done before and Italy has started to become a country of immigration. More recently, a new generation of Italians have again become mobile with Australia emerging as one of their chosen destinations. This new migratory movement has often been compared to the Italian migration of the 1950s and 1960s. It is a reality, though, that there is a knowledge gap about ‘new Italian migrants’ to Australia. This paper thus seeks to redress this lack of information. While acknowledging the existence of an increasing trend of Italian people coming to Australia, my investigation aims to show that recent reference to this new phenomenon is based on an overstatement of what the data demonstrates and, equally, its prospects for the future.
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Books by Riccardo Armillei
Academic Journals by Riccardo Armillei
‘forgotten’ nature of their genocide. The crimes committed by the Fascist regime towards these peoples during the Second World War were not disclosed until recently. In past decades it was commonly believed that Fascism had targeted Romanies merely as a problem of ‘public order’, rather than as a racial issue. This study argues that a lack of official acknowledgement, together with recent authoritarian approaches towards them (such as the introduction of 2008 ‘Nomad Emergency’ and the ongoing adoption of the highly criticized ‘camps policy’), could all be interpreted as an indirect consequence of the government’s incapacity to deal with a shameful past and its unbroken ties. The existence of ‘gaps’ in Italian collective memory is now harming the health of Italy’s democratic polity, allowing racism to re-emerge, while resuscitating a deep-seated belief in the ‘legendary
generosity’ of Italians.
‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (nomad emergency). The state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that had been already categorised in the 1970s as the ‘problema nomadi’ (nomads problem), and was now described and handled as a ‘natural disaster.’ Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Third Sector representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, this article argues that the enactment of an extraordinary measure was both disproportionate to the real degree of threat, and perpetuated an institutional tradition of racism and control of the Romani peoples. It was not, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action. The ‘emergency’ and the premises for the implementation of a ‘state of exception’ were created by protracted institutional immobility and political vacuum.
Book Chapters by Riccardo Armillei
‘forgotten’ nature of their genocide. The crimes committed by the Fascist regime towards these peoples during the Second World War were not disclosed until recently. In past decades it was commonly believed that Fascism had targeted Romanies merely as a problem of ‘public order’, rather than as a racial issue. This study argues that a lack of official acknowledgement, together with recent authoritarian approaches towards them (such as the introduction of 2008 ‘Nomad Emergency’ and the ongoing adoption of the highly criticized ‘camps policy’), could all be interpreted as an indirect consequence of the government’s incapacity to deal with a shameful past and its unbroken ties. The existence of ‘gaps’ in Italian collective memory is now harming the health of Italy’s democratic polity, allowing racism to re-emerge, while resuscitating a deep-seated belief in the ‘legendary
generosity’ of Italians.
‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (nomad emergency). The state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that had been already categorised in the 1970s as the ‘problema nomadi’ (nomads problem), and was now described and handled as a ‘natural disaster.’ Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Third Sector representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, this article argues that the enactment of an extraordinary measure was both disproportionate to the real degree of threat, and perpetuated an institutional tradition of racism and control of the Romani peoples. It was not, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action. The ‘emergency’ and the premises for the implementation of a ‘state of exception’ were created by protracted institutional immobility and political vacuum.
The Romani population in Australia is much smaller, at least as stated in official figures. According to the few available studies and a number of Romani informants interviewed, however, the real number is thought to be significantly underestimated by the Australian government. Romani individuals have been generally reluctant to disclose their ethnic and cultural identity on arrival. This fear results from the common attitude in Europe, from where many fled in search of a new life, which associates their ethnicity with crime and other stereotypical misconceptions. At the same time, apprehensions regarding the social and political climate in Australia have also reinforced this attitude. As a consequence, not many Australians know about their existence, government officials included. But while the Australian Romani community is mainly invisible, the term “Gypsy” is used by mainstream Australians in order to describe a supposedly “hippy life style”, thus obscuring its broader ethnic meaning.
Both in the Italian and Australian contexts there is a cultural loss/deprivation due to the dissemination of apparently opposing stereotypical misconceptions. Consequently, in Italy and Australia the Romani communities do not exist in positive terms, but as the result of a negative approach enacted by these governments: institutional and spatial segregation in the first case, bureaucratic neglect and romantic views in the second one. This comparative study aims to show that although Italy and Australia represents and configure quite different contexts, they do present similarities, especially in the way, with differing degrees of pressure, people with a Romani background risk to lose their cultural connotation.
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Intellectual and public discourse around the analysis and interpretation of the pre-Fascist era is even more obscure. Noel Welch points out that a relative lack of attention to racial thinking in Italy results from its supposed ‘negligible impact when compared with American and other western European Traditions, or dismissed as the clumsily racist stuff of an emphatically bygone (fascist) era’ (p. 239).
Only in recent years a growing awareness regarding the agency of camp inhabitants has re-emerged more consistently after a period in which an ‘encamped life’ was at times associated to Agamben’s (1998) ‘bare life’ and Foucault’s (1977) ‘biopolitics’. Nevertheless, scholars are still hesitant in developing a current of study looking specifically at camps, not only as ‘resistance sites’, but more broadly as ‘all-inclusive systems’, where interacting and interdependent agents form an integrated whole. Through in-depth analysis of this specific socio-political context I was able to observe the existence of a democratic deficit in the way these actors operate and co-operate with each other: competition and antagonisms, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, and inefficiencies have all contributed over the years to producing and maintaining the present living situation of the Romani peoples.
The asylum seekers, “clients” as they are called by the Serco personnel, came to Australia to escape persecution, harassment, torture and violence. They had hoped for asylum and what have they found instead? A prison.