Policy networks and immigrants’ associations in Italy. The cases of Milan, Bologna and Naples

This article analyses the role played by immigrants' associations in local policy networks in Italy. The aim is to find out if differences in the political opportunity structure have an impact on the development of immigrant organisations and on their influence in the policy-making process. In the first part of the article I describe the evolution of immigrants' associations in Italy by focusing on the institutional opportunity structure, defined here as the resources granted by national legislation to support immigrants' associations. In the second part I focus on three cases that represent different areas of the country: Milan, Bologna and Naples. These cities have been governed by different political majorities since the mid-1980s, and are thus characterised by differences in the political opportunity structure. The question I ask is: do different configurations of power, right-wing or left-wing, provide different institutional opportunities for immigrants' associations? And how do these different opportunities influence levels of immigrant organisation? My analysis shows that immigrants' associations are poorly organised and play a marginal role in the local decision-making process in the three cities considered. Left-wing administrations have attempted to open some opportunities, but these were scarce and often of a contradictory nature. Local governments seem in general to prefer Italian pro-immigrant associations, especially as far as access to funding and running for public contracts is concerned. As a consequence, in all the three cities considered, national welfare associations appear to have crowded out immigrants' own initiatives.