Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T12:46:23.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The politicization of immigration in Italy. Who frames the issue, when and how

Part of: IPSR-RISP Migration collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2018

Ornella Urso
Ornella Urso*
Affiliation:
Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Italy is one of the most representative ‘new immigration countries.’ Between the 1980s and the 1990s, it became a major country of destination for immigrants coming from Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. As a result, since the mid-90s, immigration has gained salience within the Italian political debate. Building on the existing literature on agenda-setting and framing studies, this article studies the evolution of the immigration issue in Italy over the last two decades. It focuses on the framing and, more specifically, the position political actors tend to adopt when debating on immigration. In particular, the main research questions are: to what extent is the framing of immigration associated with the traditional left vs. right spectrum? Do incumbent political parties tend to adopt a different position toward immigration than opposition parties? This article analyses party competition dynamics over the immigration issue in Italy from 1995 to 2011. The author carried out a political-claim analysis of articles from two Italian national daily newspapers. Findings show that immigration is more a positional issue than a valence one. Political actors’ positions towards migration appear to be anchored to the old left vs. right dimension of the political conflict. This demonstrates that parties’ engagement within the political conflict goes beyond electoral campaigns. Finally, being in government seems to play a crucial role in ‘softening’ the way party actors frame immigration, in terms of both the arguments used and the pro- or anti-immigration positions adopted.

Keywords

Italyimmigrationagenda-settingpolitical parties
Type
Research Article
Information
Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica , Volume 48 , Special Issue 3: Policy Agendas in Italy , November 2018 , pp. 365 - 381
Copyright
© Società Italiana di Scienza Politica 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, B (2008) Illegal immigrants: victim or villain? ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, Working paper 64, University of Oxford, 1–14.Google Scholar
Anderson B (2013) Us and them?: The dangerous politics of immigration control. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
Baumgartner, FR Jones, BD (1993) Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, FR Bonafont, LC (2015) All news is bad news: newspaper coverage of political parties in Spain. Political Communication 32(2): 268–291.Google Scholar
Bennett, WL (1990) Toward a theory of press‐state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication 40(2): 103–125.Google Scholar
Benson, R (2013) Shaping Immigration News: A French-American Comparison. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Berkhout, J Sudulich, LM (2011) Codebook for political claims analysis. SOM Working paper 2011-02: 1–37.Google Scholar
Bobba, G McDonnell, D (2015) Italy a strong and enduring market for populism, in Kriesi H and Pappas TS (eds) European populism in the shadow of the Great Recession, Colchester: ECPR Press, pp. 163–179.Google Scholar
Bobbio, L Roncarolo, F (eds) (2016) I media e le politiche. Come i giornali raccontano le scelte pubbliche che riguardano la vita dei cittadini. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Bonifazi, C (2007) L’immigrazione straniera in Italia. Studi e ricerche. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Bonifazi, C, Heinz, F, Strozza, S Vitiello, M (2009) The Italian transition from emigration to immigration country. Working paper IRPPS – CNR, Roma, pp. 1–104.Google Scholar
Boswell, C (2003) The ‘external dimension’ of EU immigration and asylum policy. International Affairs 79(3): 619–638.Google Scholar
Buonfino, A (2004) Between unity and plurality: the politicization and securitization of the discourse of immigration in Europe. New Political Science 26(1): 23–49.Google Scholar
Burchianti, F Zapata-Barrero, R (2012) Intolerant discourses about migrants in Catalan politics.Google Scholar
Calavita, K (2006) Gender, migration, and law: crossing borders and bridging disciplines. International Migration Review 40(1): 104–132.Google Scholar
Clough Marinaro, I Sigona, N (2011) Introduction: Anti-Gypsyism and the politics of exclusion: Roma and Sinti in contemporary Italy. Journal of Modern Italian Studies 16(5): 583–589.Google Scholar
Cobb, RW Elder, CD (1983) Participation in American Democracy: The Dynamics of Agenda-Building . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Colombo, M (2013) Discourse and politics of migration in Italy: the production and reproduction of ethnic dominance and exclusion. Journal of Language and Politics 12(2): 157–179.Google Scholar
Dal Lago, A (1999) Non-persone. L’esclusione dei migranti in una società globale. Milano: Feltrinelli.Google Scholar
Dearing, JW Rogers, EM (1996) Communication concepts 6: Agenda-setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Fabbrini, S (2009) The transformation of Italian democracy. Bulletin of Italian Politics 1(1): 29–47.Google Scholar
Ferree, MM, Anthony, GW, Jürgen, G Rucht, D (2002) Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States. New York: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Fryberg SA, Stephens NM, Covarrubias R, Markus HR, Carter ED, Laiduc GA and Salido AJ (2012) How the media frames the immigration debate: the critical role of location and politics. Analysis of Social Issues and Public Policy 13, 96–112.Google Scholar
Gattinara, PC (2016) The Politics of Migration in Italy: Perspectives on Local Debates and Party Competition, Vol. 33. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Green-Pedersen, C Mortensen, PB (2010) Who sets the agenda and who responds to it in the Danish parliament? European Journal of Political Research 40(2): 257–281.Google Scholar
Green-Pedersen, C Mortensen, PB (2012) Policy agenda-setting studies: attention, politics and the public, in Araral E, Fritzen S, Howlett M, Ramesh M and Wu X (eds) Routledge handbook of public policy. London: Routledge, pp. 167–174.Google Scholar
Green-Pedersen, C Walgrave, S (2014) Political agenda setting: an approach to studying political systems, in C Green-Pedersen and S Walgrave (eds). Agenda Setting, Policies, and Political Systems: A Comparative Approach. London: Chicago University Press, pp. 1–18.Google Scholar
Green-Pedersen, C Mortensen, PB (2015) Avoidance and engagement: issue competition in multiparty systems. Political Studies 63(4): 747–764.Google Scholar
Habermas, J (ed.) (1993) On the pragmatic, the ethical, and the moral employments of practical reason, Justification and application: Remarks on discourse ethics. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 1–18.Google Scholar
Hallin, DC Mancini, P (2004) Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Helbling, M (2010) Public debates on integration and immigration in six West European countries. EUI Working paper RSCAS 2010/22. San Domenico di Fiesole: European University Institute (EUI)/Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS)/EUDO Citizenship Observatory.Google Scholar
Helbling, M (2013) Framing immigration in Western Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40(1): 21–41.Google Scholar
Helbling, M (2014) Opposing Muslims and the Muslim headscarf in Western Europe. European Sociological Review 30(2): 242–257.Google Scholar
Höglinger, D, Helbling, M Wüest, B (2012) Culture versus economy: the framing of public debates over issues related to globalization, in Kriesi H et al., (eds). Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 229–253.Google Scholar
Hooghe, L, Marks, G Wilson, CJ (2002) Does left/right structure party positions on European integration? Comparative Political Studies 35(8): 965–989.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R (1997) Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies, Vol. 19 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, BD Baumgartner, FR (2005) The Politics of Attention: How Government Prioritizes Problems. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kingdon, JW (1984) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Vol. 5 Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co, pp. 607–613.Google Scholar
Koopmans, R (2004) Movements and media: selection processes and evolutionary dynamics in the public sphere. Theory and Society 33(3–4): 367–391.Google Scholar
Koopmans, R Olzak, S (2004) Discursive opportunities and the evolution of right-wing violence in Germany. American Journal of Sociology 110(1): 198–230.Google Scholar
Kriesi, H (1998) The transformation of cleavage politics: the 1997 Stein Rokkan lecture. European Journal of Political Research 33(2): 165–185.Google Scholar
Kriesi, H Pappas, TS (eds) (2015) European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Kriesi H, Grande E, Dolezal M, Helbling M, Höglinger D, Hutter S and Wüest B (2012) Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kriesi H, Grande E, Lachat R, Dolezal M, Bornschier S and Frey T (2006) Globalization and the transformation of the national political space: Six European countries compared. European Journal of Political Research 45(6): 921–956.Google Scholar
Lazarsfeld, PF Merton, RK (1948) Mass communication, popular taste and organized social action, in Bryson L (ed.) The Communication of Ideas, The Communication of Ideas. New York: The Institute for Religious and Social Studies, pp. 18–30.Google Scholar
Magone, JM (2009) Europe and global governance, in C Rumford (ed.). The SAGE Handbook of European Studies. Journal of Contemporary European Research, Vol. 7, pp. 276–277.Google Scholar
Mair, P Mudde, C (1998) The party family and its study. Annual Review of Political Science 1(1): 211–229.Google Scholar
McCombs, ME Shaw, DL (1972) The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly 36(2): 176–187.Google Scholar
Messina, AM (2007) The Logics and Politics of Post-WWII Migration to Western Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morales, L, Pardos-Prado, S Ros, V (2015) Issue emergence and the dynamics of electoral competition around immigration in Spain. Acta Politica 50(4): 461–485.Google Scholar
Mudde, C (2002) The Ideology of the Extreme Right. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Mudde, C (2004) The populist zeitgeist. Government and Opposition 39(4): 542–563.Google Scholar
Norris, P (2005) Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Odmalm, P Bale, T (2015) Immigration into the mainstream: conflicting ideological streams, strategic reasoning and party competition. Acta Politica 50(4): 365–378.Google Scholar
Papathanassopoulos, S (2007) The development of digital television in Greece. Javnost-The Public 14, 93–108.Google Scholar
Pugliese, E (2011) The Mediterranean model of immigration. Academicus International Scientific Journal 2(03): 96–107.Google Scholar
Riva, P, Monica, C Lorenzo, M (2008) Comparing Right and Left-wing discourse on immigration: a lexical correspondence analysis of Italian parliamentary debates. Talk given at the 9th International Conference on the Statistical Analysis of Textual Data, Lyon, March 12–14. Retrieved 9 January 2018 from http://www.cavi.univ-paris3.fr/lexicometrica/jadt/jadt2008/pdf/riva-colombo-montali.pdf.Google Scholar
Robertson, DB (1976) A Theory of Party Competition. London: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Rochefort, DA Cobb, RW (1993) Problem definition, agenda access and policy choice. Policy Studies Journal 21, 56–72.Google Scholar
Ruedin, D Berkhout, J (2012) Patterns of claims-making on civic integration and migration in Europe: are Muslims different?. SOM working paper 8: 1–30.Google Scholar
Semetko, HA Scammell, M (2012) The Sage Handbook of Political Communication. London, UK: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sigona, N (2011) Gypsies out of Italy!: social exclusion and racial discrimination of Roma and Sinti in Italy, in A Mammone and GA Veltri (eds). Italy Today: The Sick Man of Europe. London: Routledge, pp. 143–157.Google Scholar
Soroka, SN (2002) Issue attributes and agenda‐setting by media, the public, and policymakers in Canada. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 14(3): 264–285.Google Scholar
Vaccari, C (2010) Missed opportunities: the debate on immigrants’ voting rights in Italian newspapers and television, in Beyond Monopoly: Globalization and Contemporary Italian Media, Lanham: Lexington Books, pp. 203–224.Google Scholar
van der Brug W and Spanje JV (2009) Immigration, Europe and the ‘new’ cultural dimension. European Journal of Political Research 48(3): 309–334.Google Scholar
van der Brug, W, Fennema, M Jean, T (2005) Why some anti-immigrant parties fail and others succeed: a two-step model of aggregate electoral support. Comparative Political Studies 38, 537–573.Google Scholar
van der Brug, W, Gianni, D’A, Joost, B Didier, R (2015) The Politicisation of Immigration: A Comparative Study of Seven Countries (1995-2009). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, TAV (1995) Discourse, opinions and ideologies. Current Issues in Language & Society 2(2): 115–145.Google Scholar
Van Spanje, J (2010) Contagious parties. Party Politics 16(5): 563–586.Google Scholar
Vliegenthart R, Walgrave S, Baumgartner FR, Bevan S, Breunig C, Brouard S, Chaqués Bonafont L, Grossman E, Jennings W, Morten PB, Palau Roqué AM, Sciarini P and Tresch A (2016) Do the media set the parliamentary agenda? A comparative study in seven countries. European Journal of Political Research 55(2), 283–301.Google Scholar
Venturini, A (2004) Postwar Migration in Southern Europe, 1950–2000: An Economic Analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wolfsfeld, G, Segev, E Sheafer, T (2013) Social media and the Arab spring: politics comes first. The International Journal of Press/Politics 18(2): 115–137.Google Scholar
Zapata-Barrero, R (2006) The Muslim community and Spanish tradition: Maurophobia as a fact, and impartiality, as a desiratum, in T Modood, A Traindafyllidou and R Zapata-Barrero (eds). Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship: A European Approach. New York: Routledge, pp. 143–161.Google Scholar
Zincone, G (2010) L’immigrazione e l’incerta cittadinanza. Il Mulino 59(5): 758–766.Google Scholar