Civic Integration as Symbolic policy? The Case of the Integration Agreement in Italy

In comparison to North and Central European countries, Italy is a latecomer to the process of diffusion of civic integration politicies that has been taking place throughout the 2000s among EU member states. The main goal of this chapter is to assess whether and to what extent a radical change, from local to national, is taking place within Italian immigrant integration policies, or whether continuity prevails notwithstanding the alignment to European civic integration policy. To this end we undertake an in-depth analysis of the policymaking process that led to the adoption of the so called Integration Agreement in 2009.