Italian Families in London Facing Social Reproduction Dilemmas: Issues of Gender, Ethnicity and Class.

The paper explores, through the lens of social reproduction, the experiences of Italian families with small children in London. The concept of social reproduction aims at bringing together a varied set of activities entailed by reproducing human beings as cultural, social and physical subjects, tasks increasingly taking place in different sites (both inside and outside the family) and at different geographical scales (both locally and transnationally). Facing the challenges entailed by reproducing their families in an institutional context entirely new to them, families have to solve dilemmas (in terms of work-family reconciliation strategies, choice of school, care and health services), which call into question issues of gender, class and ethnic identity. Reproducing families in a transnational context entails, as it will be shown through the narratives collected, negotiating boundaries of belonging in an increasingly diverse and unequal urban context, a challenge faced drawing on varied forms of social, economic and cultural capital.