Papers by Erika Bernacchi
Il testo affronta la condizione delle nuove generazioni con background migratorio in Italia, pren... more Il testo affronta la condizione delle nuove generazioni con background migratorio in Italia, prendendo in esame le diverse forme di attivismo femminista e antirazzista da loro promosse. Le questioni poste sono uno stimolo critico per l’intera società e sollecitano ad affrontare le profonde trasformazioni che i processi migratori internazionali hanno innescato e le sfide che la multiculturalità pone a ciascuno di noi e al sistema paese.
Jessie A. Bustillos Morales (Eds.). Questioning Gender Politics Contextualising Educational Disparities in Uncertain Times, 2024
This chapter aims to make the reader familiar with the concept of Caring Masculinities and how to... more This chapter aims to make the reader familiar with the concept of Caring Masculinities and how to teach it in early education and primary schools. The theoretical background will be explained alongside the pedagogical concept. The article will close with a pedagogic example that gives an idea of how to implement the concept in daily practice. Caring Masculinities contradicts patterns of traditional masculinities which are the basis of patriarchy. By teaching Caring Masculinities many pressing problems can be addressed simultaneously: the gender care gap, gender-based violence, and climate change. The chapter is based on the results of the European project ‘ECaRoM – Early Care and the Role of Men’ that aims to strengthen the caring aspect in early childhood education, especially focusing on boys*, and provides ways to involve it in everyday interactions and activities.
I. Biemmi (a cura di). La maschilità nei contesti educativi e di cura. Sguardi pedagogici e sociologici. Roma: Carocci, 2024
A cura di Irene Biemmi La maschilità nei contesti educativi e di cura Sguardi pedagogici e sociol... more A cura di Irene Biemmi La maschilità nei contesti educativi e di cura Sguardi pedagogici e sociologici Carocci editore 8 indice 7.4. Il progetto Men at Work 157 7.4.1. Come si rende visibile il genere? / 7.4.2. Discutere "tra maschi": tra virilità, riflessività e reputazione 7.5. Conclusioni 164 Riferimenti bibliografici 165 Le autrici e gli autori 169
Le migrazioni femminili in Italia. Percorsi di affermazione oltre le vulnerabilità, 2023
Critical Romani Studies
She is researcher at the Istituto degli Innocenti of Florence where she carries out research on c... more She is researcher at the Istituto degli Innocenti of Florence where she carries out research on children's rights, violence, gender, and interculture.
Culture e Studi del Sociale, 2022
La critica sociologica, 2022
Masculinity and gender-based violence. Incorporating critical studies on masculinity into public... more Masculinity and gender-based violence. Incorporating critical studies on masculinity into public policies for the prevention of gender-based violence · Research carried out during the Covid 19 pandemic in Italy and other European countries shows that gender-based violence increased during this period due to the forced confinement of women within the home and the related increased difficulty in seeking help. To address these difficulties, a number of tools have been developed to improve the reporting and protection of victims and to enhance the services offered by anti-violence centres and centres for male perpetrators of violence. While
these measures are necessary, it is clear that gender-based violence cannot be adequately tackled without a preventive effort that increasingly involves men as actual or potential perpetrators of gender-based violence. The article highlights the need to carry out a work that is based on the deconstruction of gender stereotypes concerning masculinity. Such a work should not consider violence as an aberration, but as a possible extreme manifestation of a hegemonic conception of masculinity. To this end, the article presents a brief overview of critical studies on men and masculinity and how this perspective has started to influence European
public policies to prevent gender-based violence. Secondly, the educational interventions carried out in Italy in this field – both at an institutional level and by associations – are analysed and, finally, the need for public policies to support families to incorporate this perspective is
highlighted.
In this paper, I draw on the insights of postcolonial feminism and present some key reflections e... more In this paper, I draw on the insights of postcolonial feminism and present some key reflections emerging from the experience of women’s intercultural associations in Italy based on an empirical research carried out through in-depth interviews. The paper examines to what extent women’s intercultural associations can provide insights about how to challenge what Farris has termed femonationalist discourse and what Farris and Rottenberg call the righting of feminism. More specifically, the case study examines two areas that seem to be crucial in this fight and in the construction of an intercultural feminist project: how to bring feminist and antiracist aims together, especially in relation to issues of cultural difference, and how to address the area of structural asymmetries between women concerning the sector of domestic and care work where most migrant women in Italy are employed.
The study identi es and analyses how structural factors—the social, cultural, economic, legal, or... more The study identi es and analyses how structural factors—the social, cultural, economic, legal, organizational, or policy responses—interact to a ect everyday violence in children’s homes and communities. In turn, it will identify causal pathways to better inform national strategies for violence prevention. Unpacking the drivers of violence—focusing on girls and boys at di erent stages of the life course, from the very young to older adolescents—will contribute to comparative global and national evidence bases on why and how change happens. The main outcome will be improved primary violence prevention interventions which are sensitive and responsive to variations by age and gender and that fully consider the needs of children and the adults who live with them.
Collectivus, 2019
Una parte de la teoría liberal feminista ha identificado que el multiculturalismo está en oposici... more Una parte de la teoría liberal feminista ha identificado que el multiculturalismo está en oposición a los derechos de las mujeres (Okin, 1999) y esas teorías pueden volverse aún más atractivas en los tiempos actuales de anti/post-multiculturalismo. Otros autores han abogado por la necesidad de distinguir entre multiculturalismo liberal y crítico o reflexivo (May y Sleeter, 2010). Este artículo analiza la tensión entre el multiculturalismo y los derechos de las mujeres dentro de las asociaciones interculturales de mujeres en Italia. Investiga cómo estas organizaciones han abordado cuestiones que se toman como ejemplos de diferencias culturales, como las mutilaciones genitales femeninas y los matrimonios forzados. Su objetivo es responder a la pregunta: ¿en qué medida las asociaciones elegidas han podido evitar tanto la "Escila del fundamentalismo feminista como el Caribdis del relativismo cultural?" (Anthias, 2002), reuniendo así objetivos feministas y antirracistas. El art...
Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 2018
Ragion Pratica, 2013
The article analyses the use of cultural defense for crimes related to violence against women at ... more The article analyses the use of cultural defense for crimes related to violence against women at the light of transnational and postcolonial feminist theories. It explains how in such instances there is a risk of over-simplifying what constitutes the culture of non Western countries, especially the Muslim ones. Such a representation is based on a false opposition between Western countries, supposedly respectful of women's rights, and Muslim countries as patriarchal. Such opposition does not take into account the current evolutions that Muslim societies are going through, as well as the presence of harsh conflicts between liberal and fundamentalist forces within those same countries. It also does not consider the persistence of a patriarchal culture in Western countries, in particular in Italy.
*This report is the result of the collaboration of the respective authors, however with regards t... more *This report is the result of the collaboration of the respective authors, however with regards to the allocation of the various sections we specify as follows: The following sections are by Antonio Raimondo di Grigoli: 3.1 Methodology; 3.2 Results from qualitative research: the state of gender sensitive education in the experience of educators and teachers; 3.2.1 Activities carried out with children in ECEC services and primary schools; 3.2.2 Gender stereotypes shown by children and by educators and teachers. The following sections are by Erika Bernacchi: 3.2.3 Care activities; 3.2.4 Male educators in ECEC services, 3.2.5 Relationship with parents and fathers, 3.2.6 Training. The following sections are by Majda Hrzenjak: Introduction 2.2. Research on the state of the art; 2.3. Examples of existing guidelines and didactical tools for reducing gender stereotypes. The following sections are by Živa Humer 2.1. Policy contexts. Conclusions were written jointly by the authors. This text has been written by the respective authors on the basis of the national reports by:
EcaRoM - Early Care and the Role of Men - Rapporto Italia, 2022
AG About Gender - Rivista internazionale di studi di genere, 2021
The article analyses the deconstruction of sexist and racist stereotypes carried out in the conte... more The article analyses the deconstruction of sexist and racist stereotypes carried out in the context of different forms of social activism by migrant women and their daughters. It also outlines the stages of the debate on women’s rights and multiculturalism documenting the emergence in Italy of a feminist post-colonial approach. If on the one hand social and cultural processes tend to construct migrant women as “other” women on the basis of the post-colonial logic, on the other hand, an increasing number of migrant women and girls with a migratory background are becoming the protagonists of actions aimed not only at deconstructing the stereotypes they are subjected to, but also at questioning the cultural constructions of Italian society itself.
Identities, 2016
Drawing on fieldwork carried out in 2012-2013, this article explores the dynamics of identity and... more Drawing on fieldwork carried out in 2012-2013, this article explores the dynamics of identity and otherness within selected women’s intercultural associations in Italy in the light of the following issue: how to acknowledge differences among women - based primarily on ‘race’, ethnicity, legal status/citizenship, class and age - whilst maintaining a common political project. This article focuses on the contexts which facilitate the formation of such a project by promoting the contesting of rigid categorisation of women on grounds of nationality or culture. It first focuses on what is referred to as “a starting point a bit displaced”, secondly on the desire to move beyond divisions on nationality grounds and thirdly on the concept of hybridity as a bridge between women. At the same time, the article confronts those issues that might conceal power differentials among women and argues in favour of a notion of feminist reflexive solidarity.
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Papers by Erika Bernacchi
these measures are necessary, it is clear that gender-based violence cannot be adequately tackled without a preventive effort that increasingly involves men as actual or potential perpetrators of gender-based violence. The article highlights the need to carry out a work that is based on the deconstruction of gender stereotypes concerning masculinity. Such a work should not consider violence as an aberration, but as a possible extreme manifestation of a hegemonic conception of masculinity. To this end, the article presents a brief overview of critical studies on men and masculinity and how this perspective has started to influence European
public policies to prevent gender-based violence. Secondly, the educational interventions carried out in Italy in this field – both at an institutional level and by associations – are analysed and, finally, the need for public policies to support families to incorporate this perspective is
highlighted.
these measures are necessary, it is clear that gender-based violence cannot be adequately tackled without a preventive effort that increasingly involves men as actual or potential perpetrators of gender-based violence. The article highlights the need to carry out a work that is based on the deconstruction of gender stereotypes concerning masculinity. Such a work should not consider violence as an aberration, but as a possible extreme manifestation of a hegemonic conception of masculinity. To this end, the article presents a brief overview of critical studies on men and masculinity and how this perspective has started to influence European
public policies to prevent gender-based violence. Secondly, the educational interventions carried out in Italy in this field – both at an institutional level and by associations – are analysed and, finally, the need for public policies to support families to incorporate this perspective is
highlighted.
Le questioni poste sono uno stimolo critico per l'intera società e sollecitano ad affrontare le profonde trasformazioni che i processi migratori internazionali hanno innescato e le sfide che la multiculturalità pone a ciascuno di noi e al sistema paese.
egemoniche, mediante il coinvolgimento dei ragazzi per il raggiungimento dell’uguaglianza di genere. Il presente manuale è stato progettato per lavorare con gli/le insegnanti e con tutto il personale educativo.
Include delle linee guida pratiche che mirano ad approfondire e a condividere conoscenze ed esperienze allo scopo di testare l'implementazione dei metodi e avere a disposizione strumenti per lavorare con gli adolescenti.
Our chapter focuses on possibilities to broaden images of non-hegemonic masculinities and open up non-traditional career choices especially for boys in vocational education. Within the European research project Boys in Care (2017-2019) we critically examined teaching material (textbooks) in vocational education in six European countries in the problematic context of highly segregated labor markets and gender stereotyping in vocational education.
Based on these findings our proposed chapter first introduces the concept of caring masculinities as theoretical framework: It emerged in the mid-2000s in research on men between professional life and involved paternity; it tried to describe their patterns of action and work-related needs, potentially leading to cultural changes in masculinities and gender relations and overcoming of binary codes in gender (Scambor et al. 2013, Gärtner et al. 2007, Langvasbråten & Teigen, 2006). It was also theorised in a more general way as “masculine identities that reject domination and its associated traits and embrace values of care such as positive emotion, interdependence, and relationality” (Elliot 2016). Labour market data on gender segregation and future development suggest that there is a profound need for more men in caring occupations like health, elder or childcare facilities. In our view, caring masculinities can serve as a core element and model in gender-sensitive vocational education to open these fields for men – and vice versa, open boys and men for these occupations.
We briefly summarize findings from the transnational research report, but the main focus of our chapter are practical applications such as concrete teaching methods and class assignments which have been proven to be helpful to promote caring masculinities among boys and young men in the context of vocational education. Our chapter will illustrate how to translate masculinities theory into critical-reflective and gender-sensitive learning environments.
Our chapter addresses teachers and practitioners involved with vocational training of adolescents but will be of interest also to university students, researchers, activists, and interested public in strategies to overcome gender segregation in the labor market and fostering caring masculinities in our societies.
dell’etnopsicanalisi e della psichiatria transculturale in Francia.
Il suo lavoro mostra l’importanza di una pratica psicoanalitica che
includa diverse rappresentazioni del mondo e del sapere per meglio
curare e supportare. A partire dal suo lavoro con bambini, adolescenti
e famiglie, in particolare quelle migranti, ha sottolineato come «tutti
i figli di domani saranno meticci» rovesciando così la prospettiva che
vede i figli dei migranti come una diversità problematica e prendendoli
a simbolo di una ipermodernità e prefigurazione di un futuro che
riguarderà le nostre società nel loro complesso. «Il métissage appartiene
a tutti», sostiene Moro evidenziando come la clinica transculturale offra
strumenti e predisponga a una particolare sensibilità per accogliere
tutte le diverse forme familiari che caratterizzano la modernità.
The book is based on extensive ethnographic research carried out by the two authors over a period of 16 years (from 1996-2012) in four Italian cities (Milan, Genoa, Rome, and Perugia) involving a total of 250 interviews with male and female informants as well as
participant observation in significant contexts.