Becoming Adults As Children of Immigrants

In a global context going through profound changes, the youth perspective represents a privileged point of observation for understanding the diverse challenging we are called upon to confront.

Among youths, of special interest are the children of migrants, growing groups in all the countries of destination of migration flows and in most of them now an established part of the population. Those segments display specific features making them particularly crucial: their achievements, the working and status positions they occupy, the constraints they encounter, represent the litmus test with which to assess the overall outcomes of the inclusion processes of the immigrant population. Furthermore, they are a decisive factor in the transformation of destination countries, marking a turning point in interethnic relations and dynamics. Hence, analysing their pathways, along with the existence of ethnic penalties, and the weight of discrimination and prejudices they can experience, cannot but provide useful information on the wider societies.

This session aims to gather contributions investigating and reflecting upon the inclusion processes of people of foreign origin, that address the issue from different geographical perspectives in order to stimulate a wider debate on the matter. Access of higher education, dynamics of insertion in the labour market, trajectories of social mobility, analysis of policies and good practices, comparative studies, are some of the possible standpoints we intend to bring together. Our goal is to create an arena for debating and sharing, putting together scholars from different fields and national/local contexts for expanding knowledge and transnational exchanges.