Lights in the night from asylum: innovative integration practices and signs of a new citizenship in Italy

In a European context, and in particular in Italy, where nationalist and emergency rhetoric supports policies of strict closure towards migrants, the reception and integration processes of asylum seekers and holders of international protection, as well as the right to asylum itself, appear to be strongly constrained by decisions taken at the national level. However, this contribution, based on an empirical analysis of the Community Matching and Inclusive Universities for Refugees experiences, highlights the existence of discursive and operational ‘interstices’ within the ‘battlefield’ of Multi-level Governance. In these spaces, practices that are initially only original but later socially innovative emerge, capable of transforming (albeit to a limited extent) the societies in which they occur, particularly with regard to the issue of protection. This transformation primarily involves the community, which, is called upon to participate in the integration processes alongside refugees through the creation of relationships, ties and links. Secondly, it reshapes the concept of citizenship. In this view, the recognition of the rights that constitute citizenship is not a hard-fought achievement, but rather the foundation of a path that, supported by intercultural relations, leads to the highest degree of integration (indicated by elements such as access to housing, education, employment, and health care).