The New Racism in Europe A Sicilian Ethnography [Hardcover]

Ground breaking study of everyday attitudes to immigration, race, and nationalism in Italy.Immigration is among the most contested issues in Western Europe. Studies commonly focus on political activity and the plight of minorities, but this book breaks new ground in its emphasis on the everyday reactions of Italians to immigration, nationalism and racism. Drawing on research carried out in Palermo, Jeffrey Cole considers the ambivalent responses of rich and poor Sicilians to immigrants. He places Italian attitudes in a European context, and investigates why anti-immigrant politics are concentrated in the wealthy Italian North.Immigration is among the most contested issues in Western Europe. Studies commonly focus on political activity and the plight of minorities, but this book breaks new ground in its emphasis on the everyday reactions of Italians to immigration, nationalism and racism. Drawing on research carried out in Palermo, Jeffrey Cole considers the ambivalent responses of rich and poor Sicilians to immigrants. He places Italian attitudes in a European context, and investigates why anti-immigrant politics are concentrated in the wealthy Italian North.Immigration is among the most contested issues in Western Europe. Studies commonly focus on political activity and the plight of minorities, but this book breaks new ground in its emphasis on the everyday reactions of Italians to immigration, nationalism and racism. Drawing on research carried out in Palermo, Jeffrey Cole considers the ambivalent responses of rich and poor Sicilians to immigrants. He places Italian attitudes in a European context, and investigates why anti-immigrant politics are concentrated in the wealthy Italian North.1. Introduction; 2. When the bottom looks down: working-class views of immigrants in Palermo; 3. The view from the top: Bourgeois views of immigrants in Palermo; 4. The politics of race and immigration in the Italian North and South; 5. Conclusions; Appendix; Notes; Referencesl“-