Paolo Boccagni

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Transnationalism

Emotions on the move: Mapping the emergent field of emotion and migration (with L. Baldassar), Emotion, Space and Society, 16: 73-80, 2015.

Rethinking transnational studies: Transnational ties and the transnationalism of everyday life, European Journal of Social Theory, 15(1): 117-32, 2012. 

Public, private or both? On the scope and impact of transnationalism in immigrants’ everyday lives. In R. Baubock, T. Faist (eds.), Diaspora and transnationalism: Concepts, theories and methods, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2010 (chapter 10: 185-205).

Revisiting the “transnational” in migration studies: A sociological understanding, Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 28(1): 33-50, 2012

Transnazionalismo e percorsi familiari: profili di genere e di generazione a confronto nell’immigrazione ecuadoriana (with F. Lagomarsino), “Studi di Sociologia”, 4: 385-404, 2011

Tracce transnazionali: vite in Italia e proiezioni verso casa tra i migranti ecuadoriani, Milan, Angeli, 2009.

Il transnazionalismo, fra teoria sociale e vita quotidiana dei migranti, “Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia”, 50(3): 519-43, 2009.

Transnational families and care

Searching for wellbeing in care work migration: Constructions, practices and displacements among immigrant women in Italy, Social Politics, online first, 2015.

Burden, blessing or both? On the mixed role of transnational ties in migrant informal social support, International Sociology, 30(3): 250-68, 2015.

Care (and) circulation revisited: A conceptual map of diversity in transnational parenting (with P. Bonizzoni). In L. Baldassar, L. Merla (eds.), Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care, Routledge, 2013.

Migration and the family transformations it ‘leaves behind’: a critical view from Ecuador, The Latin Americanist, 57(4): 3-24, 2013.

Practising motherhood at a distance: Retention and loss in Ecuadorian transnational families, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38(2): 261-77, 2012.

Cercando il benessere nelle migrazioni: l’esperienza delle assistenti familiari straniere in Trentino (with M. Ambrosini), Milan, Angeli, 2012. 

Transnational family life and female migration in Italy: One or multiple patterns? (with L. Banfi). In E. Kofman et al. (eds), Gender, generations and the family in international migration, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2011 (chapter 12: 285-310).

Come fare le madri da lontano? Percorsi, aspettative e pratiche della “maternità transnazionale” dall’Italia, “Mondi Migranti”, 3(1): 45-66, 2009.

Il cuore in patria. Madri migranti e affetti lontani: le famiglie transnazionali in Trentino (with M. Ambrosini), Provincia autonoma di Trento, Servizio Politiche sociali, 2007 (chapters 2-3)

Remittances

“Whom should we help first?”. Transnational helping practices in Ecuadorian migration, International Migration, 51(2): 191-208, 2013. 

Mapping social remittances (with F. Decimo), Migration Letters, 10(1): 1-10, 2013.

Verso una politica di cosviluppo sociale attraverso le migrazioni: il caso dell’Ecuador e del Perù (with F. Piperno), WP CeSPI 71/2010 [www.cespi.it]    

L’emigrazione come questione sociale. Mutamento sociale, politiche e rappresentazioni in Ecuador, Romania, Ucraina, with A. Torre, F. Piperno e L. Banfi, WP CeSPI 57/2009 (chapter 3).

Ethnography and research methods

Migrazioni e ricerca qualitativa in Italia: opzioni, tensioni, prospettive (with B. Riccio), Mondi Migranti, 14(3): 33-45, 2014.

From the multi-sited to the in-between: Ethnography as a way of delving into migrants’ transnational relationships, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, Latest articles, 2014, DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2014.932107

Even a transnational social field must have its boundaries. Methodological options, potentials and dilemmas for researching transnationalism. In C. Vargas-Silva (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods in Migration, Edward Elgar, 2012.

From rapport to collaboration … and beyond? Revisiting field relationships in an ethnography of Ecuadorian migrants, Qualitative Research, 11(6): 736-54, 2011. 

Il retroscena del lavoro domestico. Percorsi etnografici nelle catene globali di cura, “Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa”, 4(3): 459-68, 2011.
Una finestra aperta sulla migrazione? L’uso e le potenzialità dei racconti di vita in una ricerca tra i migranti ecuadoriani, “Studi Culturali”, 8(1): 45-66, 2011.

Celebrare da cittadini, vivere da immigrati. Una giornata elettorale in un cortile di Milano, “come se fosse in Ecuador” (with F. Lagomarsino), “Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa” 2(3): 441-64, 2009.

Come si “misura” il transnazionalismo degli immigrati? Dalle teorie alla traduzione empirica: una rassegna metodologica, “Mondi Migranti”, 2, 2007.

Ethnicity and diversity

The difference diversity makes: a principle, a lens, an empirical attribute for majority-minority relations. In T. Matejskova, M. Antonsich (eds.),Governing through diversity, London: Palgrave, 2015 (chpt. 1: 21-38).

‘I’m not like all these Ecuadorians’. Promises and dilemmas of immigrants’ selective ethnicity appropriation, Social Identities, 20(1): 57-73, 2014.

Ethnic minorities and Roma women in Europe: A case for gender equality?, study commissioned to IRS by the European Commission – DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, with C. Crepaldi, M. Corsi, M. Samek, C. Vasilescu, 2008, chapters 7-8, available at http://ec.europa.eu/social/ main.jsp?catId=748&langId=en

The social situation of the Roma and their improved access to the labour market in the EU, study commissioned to IRS by the European Parliament – Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), with C. Crepaldi, M. Barbera, S. Naaf, 2008, chapters 3-4, available at www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/ committees/studies/download.do?file=23375 

La partecipazione multietnica nelle imprese sociali: aspettative, apporti, prospettive. Uno studio sul campo, “Sociologia e Politiche Sociali”, 11(3): 83-94, 2008.

Social welfare, social work, social protection

Social work and migration in Europe: a dialogue across boundaries (with E. Righard), Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 13(3): 221-8, 2015.

Mapping the theoretical foundations of the migration-social work nexus (with E. Righard), Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 13(3): 229-44, 2015.

(Super)Diversity and the Migration-Social Work Nexus: a new lens on the field of access and inclusion?, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(4): 608-20, 2015.

Blurred rights, local practices: Social work and immigration in Italy (with E. Barberis), British Journal of Social Work, 44(s1): i70-i87, 2014  

Caring about migrant care workers: from private obligations to transnational social welfare?, Critical Social Policy 34(2): 221-40, 2014.  

Migrants' social protection as a transnational process: public policies and emigrant initiative in the case of Ecuador, International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(3): 318-325, 2011. 

Social protection as a multi-actor process in Ecuadorian migration: Towards a transnationalism of social rights?. In R. Sabates-Wheeler, R. Feldman (eds.), Migration and social protection, London, Palgrave, 2011 (chapter 8: 210-31)

The potential of ICT in supporting immigrants in domiciliary care in Italy (with S. Pasquinelli), JRC Technical Notes – European Commission and Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, 2010, available at http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/EAP/eInclusion.html.

L’altra faccia delle migrazioni: il “care drain” nei paesi di origine, “Rivista delle politiche sociali”, 2, pp. 257-67, 2010. .  

External voting and diasporas

Transnational Politics as Cultural Circulation: Toward a Conceptual Understanding of Migrant Political Participation on the Move (with J.M. Lafleur and P. Levitt), Mobilities,Online First, 2015.

Making the ‘Fifth Region’ a real place? Emigrant policies and the emigration-nation nexus in Ecuador, National Identities, 16(2): 117-37, 2014

Building Democracy or Reproducing ‘Ecuadorianness’? A Transnational Exploration of Ecuadorian Migrants’ External Voting (with J. Ramírez), Journal of Latin American Studies, 45(4): 721-50, 2013.

Voto a la distancia: análisis de la participación política de los ecuatorianos en el exterior (with J. Ramírez). In C. Amescua et al. (eds.), Política en movimiento: estado, ciudadanía, exilio y migración en América, Ciudad del México, CRIM - Diaz de Santos, 2013 (chapter 13: 305-328).

La partecipazione politica degli immigrati: dal dibattito internazionale al caso italiano, in M. Ambrosini (ed.), Governare città plurali. Politiche locali di integrazione per gli immigrati in Europa, Milan: Angeli, 2012, p. 69-97.

Dal multiculturalismo alla coesione di comunità? Il caso di Manchester, in M. Ambrosini (ed.), Governare città plurali. Politiche locali di integrazione per gli immigrati in Europa, Milan: Angeli, 2012, p. 170-189

Negoziando i confini della nuova convivenza multietnica. Il caso di Madrid, in M. Ambrosini (ed.), Governare città plurali. Politiche locali di integrazione per gli immigrati in Europa, Milan: Angeli, 2012, p. 149-169

Reminiscences, patriotism, participation. Approaching external voting in Ecuadorian immigration to Italy, International Migration, 49(3): 76-98, 2011.

Construyendo la Quinta Región (with J. Ramírez). In J. Ramírez (ed.), Con o sin pasaporte. Ensayos socio-antropológicos sobre la migración ecuatoriana, Quito, IAEN, 2010. 

Votare per sentirsi a casa. Il transnazionalismo politico tra gli immigrati ecuadoriani in Italia, “Polis”, 22(1): 35-56,  2008

“Votare, per noi, era un giorno di festa”. Un’indagine esplorativa sul transnazionalismo politico tra gli immigrati ecuadoriani in Italia, WP CeSPI 35/2007 [www.cespi.it]

Return migration

The framing of return from above and below in Ecuadorian migration: A project, a myth, or a political device?, Global Networks, 11(4): 461-480, 2011. 

Migration and the global crisis: New prospects for return? The case of Ecuadorians in Europe (with F. Lagomarsino), Bulletin of Latin American Research, 30(3): 282-297, 2011.  

Integration, and the like

Urban multiculturalism beyond the "backlash". New discourses and different practices in immigrant policies across European cities (with M. Ambrosini), Journal of Intercultural Studies, 36(1): 35-53, 2015.

L’integrazione nello studio delle migrazioni: Teorie, indicatori, ricerche (with G. Pollini), Milan, Angeli, 2012.

Home(s)

What’s in a (migrant) house? Changing domestic spaces, the negotiation of belonging and home-making in Ecuadorian migration, Housing, Theory and Society, 31(3): 277-93, 2014

Immigrants and home in the making: Thresholds of domesticity, commonality and publicness (with A. Brighenti), Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, online first, 2015.

Other

La cooperazione sociale dà voce agli utenti? (with F. Zandonai), “Animazione Sociale”, 40, 2, pp. 90-100, 2010.

Imprese sociali e rapporti con le comunità locali: radicamento, legittimazione, rappresentanza (with M. Ambrosini), “Partecipazione e Conflitto”, 3, 2009.

Il nuovo servizio civile: un monitoraggio delle realizzazioni locali (with M. Ambrosini, F. Biolcati, M. Pizzoni), Università di Milano, study commissioned by Ufficio nazionale servizio civile, 2008 [available at www.serviziocivile.it].

I limiti del welfare trentino. Le culture regolative dei servizi, il ruolo delle imprese sociali, i bisogni emergenti. Trento, ISSAN, Report in the framework of the Equal RESTORE Project, 2006.  Gli orientamenti della società italiana verso gli immigrati e la società multietnica: la prospettiva di Eurobarometro, “Affari Sociali Internazionali”, 34(1): 93-104, 2006.

Costruire una mission partecipata. In F.Zandonai, S. Taraschi (eds.), Impresa sociale: dalla gestione strategica agli strumenti operativi, Rome, Carocci, 2006 (chapter 3).

Economia sociale e integrazione degli immigrati in Italia: un quadro di insieme, “Impresa Sociale”, n. 76, 2006

Lavoro autonomo e piccole imprese come canali di integrazione dal basso degli immigrati (with M. Ambrosini), “Studi Emigrazione”, 3, 2006.

Il barometro dell’integrazione. Un progetto per l’integrazione tra cittadini autoctoni e stranieri, Brescia, Quaderni della Fondazione ASM, 2005.

L’inserimento delle donne immigrate nel mercato del lavoro e nei servizi di cura, Trento, Report in the framework of the Equal PROMOCARE Project (with M. Ambrosini), 2004
Protagonisti inattesi. Lavoro autonomo e piccole imprese tra i lavoratori stranieri in Trentino (with M. Ambrosini), Provincia autonoma di Trento, Servizio Politiche sociali, 2004 (chapters 1,2, 3)
Le cooperative sociali del Trentino-Alto Adige. Tra gestione dei servizi, formulazione delle politiche e animazione delle comunità (with F. Zandonai), Trento, Regione Trentino Alto Adige, 2003 (chapters 4,6,7,8)
Cooperazione e immigrati. Una leva per l’integrazione sociale a livello locale?, “Rivista della Cooperazione”, n. 2, 2003

Un’integrazione precaria. Immigrazione e lavoro a Rimini (with M. Ambrosini), Fara, 2000 (chapters 1,2,3).

I am an associate professor of sociology at the University of Trento (2017-) and the principal investigator of the ERC StG HOMInG - the home-migration nexus (2016-2021) - homing.soc.unitn.it.

I do research in the following areas: international migration; home-making; globalization and transnational studies; social welfare, care, social protection and diversity; third sector and civic participation; ethnographic and qualitative research.

I teach courses on Sociology for social workers and on Migration and social work (BA in Social Work) and on Ethnography in social research and migration studies (PhD programme in Sociology) at the University of Trento.

I have published articles in many national and international journals in sociology of migration, home, social welfare, transnational studies, care and diversity. I am a member of the editorial boards of Comparative Migration Studies, Mondi Migranti and Migration Letters. My topics of interest, as of now, include the following:

- Proximity, copresence and social relationships from afar, as emerging sociological issues;

- Wellbeing, care and emotions, as (still understudied) categories relevant to international migration;

- Migrant transnational ties and relationships, along with their societal consequences;

- The consequences of emigration on host societies and the development of emigrant policies;

- Integration as a sociological notion and a category for relevant policies;

- Ethnographic and biographic approaches to research on socio-political participation and on active citizenship;

- Migrants' informal sociability and home-making practices;

- Welfare, social inclusion and ethnic minorities;

- New developments in social work and local welfare - with special respect to care work, ethno-cultural diversity and user/citizen participation.

Invited as guest speaker:

- Université Catholique de Louvain - Workshop on The significance of migrants’ remittances for families and communities; Mesa redonda sobre Familias transnacionales latino-americanas, migración y género (October 2011);
- RTG on Transnational Support (Universities of Mainz and Hildesheim) - Workshop lecture on Transnational social support: A matter of families, communities and the state? (March 2012);
- Universidad de Córdoba (Argentina), Programa multiculturalismo, migraciones y desigualdad en América Latina: Invited lecture “El transnacionalismo político entre la participación, la re-evocación y la cooptación (August 2012)
- University of Bar-Ilan (Israel), Department of Geography – Class lecture on ‘Labour immigration to Italy: a critical overview’; Department seminar on ‘Migrants and the politics of nation-building from afar: an introduction to political transnationalism’ (January 2013).
- John Jay College (CUNY – New York), Center for international human rights, Migration and security research workshop – Presentation on ‘Managing migration in a period of economic crisis: Key challenges and lessons taught from the case of Italy’ (with M. Ambrosini) (April 2013)
- University of Birmingham, Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) – Invited lecture on ‘The value(s) of super-diversity in social work with migrants: Mapping an emerging field of theory and practice’ (April 2013).
- University of Leeds, Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) – Invited lecture on ‘Does transnational caregiving entail the commodification of care? Reflections from a case study on migration and multi-sited social protection’ (April 2013).
- SUPSI (Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana), Lugano – Invited presentation on ‘(Ben)essere per gli altri, (mal)essere per sé? Le migrazioni femminili di cura tra speranze e contraddizioni’ (March 2014).
- University of Bielefeld, Research Group SFB 882 “Transnationality, the Distribution of Informal Social Protection and Inequalities”: Invited talk on ‘Migration as social protection? Migrants’ needs, vulnerabilities and inequalities in a transnational perspective’ (May 2014).
- University of Gediz, Izmir, Intensive Programme on Glocal Understanding of Forced Migration – lecture on ‘Gender, age and family dimensions in forced migration: a sociological map’ (June 2014).
- Humboldt University, Berlin, Conference Social Remittances in Social Theory and Practice – Invited presentation on ‘Beyond all-that-is-not-money: delving into the social to advance research on social remittances (September 2014).
- Conferenza annuale di ESPAnet Italia, S1 – Trasformazioni della cittadinanza tra sfera giuridica, attivismo politico e pratiche quotidiane; Keynote ‘Spacchettando il nesso M&C: Le trasformazioni della cittadinanza rilette attraverso lo studio delle migrazioni’, Università di Torino (Settembre 2014)

- University of Warsaw, International conference on Social remittances and social change in Eastern Europe, Invited presentation on ‘Researching into social remittances: Methodological implications, dilemmas and ways ahead’, January 2015.
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies – Harvard University, Cambridge (MA.), Exploratory Seminar on Global Social Protection, Invited presentation on ‘What if migrants’ social needs go transnational? Promises, limits and dilemmas of transnational social protection from below’, February 2015.
- University of Keele, School of Public policy and professional practice, Erasmus+ Programme – Lectures on The social work – migration nexus: lessons taught from the Italian experience; Insights from practice with asylum seekers and Roma populations in Italy; Transnational families, emotions and relationships, March 2015.
- Universidad Comillas – ICSW – IUEM, Invited presentation on ‘Migrants and social protection floor – the case of Italy in a broader framework of migration and social protection’, International expert seminar on Migrants and social protection floors, Madrid, April 2005.
- European University Institute – Migration Working Group, Invited presentation: ‘What if migrants’ social needs go transnational? Promises, limits and dilemmas of transnational social protection from below’, Florence, June 2015.
- Haute école de travail social - Centre de recherche sociale (CERES), Invited lecture on ‘Superdiversity and the migration-social work nexus’, Genève, June 2015.
- CERI-SciencesPo, Invited presentation on ‘An act of (transnational citizenship? Why the non-electoral implications of external voting matter (and deserve more research), Paris, October 2015.
- Université de Neuchatel, Invited presentation ‘Different means, different care? A research agenda on the implications of ICT use in migrants’ transnational caregiving’, International expert seminar on Transnational care in the digital age, Neuchatel, October 2015.

Convened the following seminars and conferences:

- Cluster B3 Workshop - Researching into external voting: comparing experiences and perspectives. Is it a matter of migrant political transnationalism?, workshop at the annual IMISCOE conference, Stockholm, September 2009.
- Sessione 10 – Il welfare invisibile dell’Europa meridionale: migranti e assistenza a domicilio” (with M. Ambrosini), Thematic session at the Annual conference of ESPANET Italia – “Senza welfare”?, Naples, September 2010. -
Chair of the session A08 – Identities and Citizenship at the NORFACE International Conference Migration: Economic Challenge, Social Change, UCL, London, April 2011.
- International workshop "Migrants and external voting in the EU: New prospects and challenges for research and policy-making" (with J.M Lafleur), IMISCOE-BNSF, Rome, May  2011.
- International conference “The migration-development nexus revisited: State of the art and ways ahead”, SMMS-TCIC, University of Trento, June 2011.
- Sessione 2 – “Terzo settore e partecipazione dei cittadini: volontariato, rappresentanza, cittadinanza attiva” (with F. Zandonai), Thematic session at the Annual Conference of ESPANET Italia – Innovare il welfare: percorsi di trasformazione in Italia e in Europa, Milan, September 2011.
- Out of place emotions? Managing affection from afar in transnational migration (with L. Baldassar), session at the Second ISA Forum of Sociology, Research Committee: Sociology of Migration – RC31, Buenos Aires, August 2012.
- Migration and social work in Europe: Reviewing the state of the art, workshop at the Annual Conference of the IMISCOE research network, Amsterdam, August 2012.
- Revisiting return migration in a mobility optic: Insights from the recent European experience (with J. Wets), workshop at the Annual Conference of the IMISCOE research network, Malmoe, August 2013.
- Migration and social work: Emerging connections in theory, research and practice (with E. Righard), workshop at the Annual Conference of the IMISCOE research network, Malmoe, August 2013.
- Changing population: Migration, reproduction and identity (with F. Decimo and A. Gribaldo), international conference, University of Trento, June 2014.
- Who’s the author? And whose are the findings? Collaboration as a critical issue for ethnography, workshop at the 5th Ethnography and Qualitative Research Conference, Bergamo, June 2014.
- Ambivalence as a category for migration studies: Promises, pitfalls, ways ahead (with P. Kivisto), RC31 session, ISA World Conference, Yokohama, July 2014.
- Home-making practices and the domestic spaces of migrant and ethnic minorities (with A. Brighenti), RC43 session, ISA World Conference, Yokohama, July 2014.
- Migration and social welfare in Europe (with E. Righard), workshop at the Annual Conference of the IMISCOE research network, Madrid, August 2014.
- L’accesso degli utenti stranieri al welfare locale: il peso delle relazioni di front line (with E. Barberis), Thematic session at the Annual Conference of ESPANET Italia – Sfide alla cittadinanza e trasformazione dei corsi di vita, Turin, September 2014.
- MIM-IMISCOE Roundtable on Social Work Transnationalism (with E. Righard and C. Bolzman), University of Malmo, November 2014.

- The undocumented, the non-legitimate, and their welfare (with E. Righard and C. Bolzman), workshop at the Annual Conference of the IMISCOE research network, Geneva, June 2015.
- ISA RC21 Conference Session “Immigrants and the domesticization of public spaces” (with J.W. Duyvendak and A. Brighenti), University of Urbino, August 2015.
- Return migration, circular migration and social work: An emerging field of practice (with E. Righard and C. Bolzman), University of Malmo, October 2015.
- Ageing in place in a mobile world (with L. Baldassar, L. Merla, M. Kilkey and R. Wilding), session at the Vienna Third ISA Forum, RC31, 2016.
- Global social protection and migration: Reproduction of inequalities or safety net? (with T. Faist), session at the Vienna Third ISA Forum, RC31, 2016.
 

Expert referee in evaluating research projects and applications for:
University of Milan (2011)
Estonian Science Foundation (2012)
Swiss National Research Fund (2014)
Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona – Escola de Postgrau (2014)

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2015).  

Referee for the following peer-reviewed journals: Ethnic and Racial Studies; Mondi Migranti; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Global Networks; Migration Letters; The Latin Americanist; Transnational Social Review; Migration Studies; International Migration; Qualitative Research; RicercAzione; Polis; Partecipazione e Conflitto; Quaderni di Sociologia; Stato e Mercato; Stranieri in Italia (Cattaneo-il Mulino); Íconos; Italian Journal of Sociology of Education; McGraw-Hill; FrancoAngeli – Politiche migratorie e ricerche; IMISCOE-Amsterdam University Press Publications. 

More information on http://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=Z5oquQgAAAAJ&pagesize=100&view_op=list_works --- https://unitn.academia.edu/PaoloBoccagni