Maurizio Artero is a postdoctoral researcher in social sciences in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan. His research focuses on migration, citizenship and transnationalism, with particular attention to civic and social participation in the field of migration.
Volunteering, Migration and Citizenship brings together the fields of migration studies and volunteering research to juxtapose the study of volunteering by migrants with the study of volunteering for migrants.
While in the social sciences volunteering has often been interpreted as the result of a renunciation of the transformation of society - a regression to pre-modern forms of helping the needy, or a retreat from ideals of social justice - this book takes an unconventional position by pointing to the potential of volunteering in the field of migration. Drawing on a study of volunteering for and by immigrants in Italy over the last eight years, it shows how volunteering not only responds to the logic of depoliticisation and ethical citizenship, but can also contribute to extending the social boundaries of society towards a more just and welcoming society. Crucially, it argues that volunteering in the field of migration can be situated within the domain of acts of citizenship, and that volunteering can take on a political character, enabling citizens and migrants alike to engage in micro-political acts.
Offering an innovative and unconventional look at the intersection of migration and volunteering, it crosses different themes and will appeal to an interdisciplinary audience in social movement studies, political sociology, civil society studies, cultural geography, migration studies and citizenship studies.
1.Introduction: volunteering in the field of migration. PART ONE: Volunteering for Migrants: Civil Society and Pro-Migrant Engagement. 2.(Re)Framing pro-migrant volunteering: Research´s Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations, Methodology and Setting. 3.Citizen Volunteering and the Politics of Welcome: Motivations and Micropolitics During the Migration Crisis. 4.Volunteering for Inclusion: Language Education and Citizenship from Below. 5.Volunteers and Activists: when does one end and the other begin? 6.Drawing the strands together: pro-migrant volunteering during and after the crisis. PART TWO: Volunteering by Migrants: Citizenship, Belonging, and Recognition. 7.Introducing the volunteering experiences of migrants: the literature, context and empirical foundation of this study. 8.Rethinking Migrant Volunteering in Mainstream Organisations as a Site of Contestation and Citizenship from Below. 9.Migrant volunteering during the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic: transnational forms of solidarity and claims of recognitions. 10.Migrant Volunteering and Inclusion: Some concluding remarks on migrant volunteering and its critical literature. 11.Conclusion: Volunteering and the Making of Inclusive Societies.
"Maurizio Artero's book is a valuable tool for exploring one of the most intriguing and controversial aspects of the relationship between immigrants and host societies: the role of volunteering, both for and by immigrants themselves. It perceptively interweaves diverse literatures: migration studies, studies on social movements, and studies on solidarity action."
Maurizio Ambrosini, University of Milan.
