Italy's Racial Cauldron

Abstract

This article explores how race and racism shape Italian state practices and policies, and how these policies shape popular opinion on immigration. It is concerned with the ways in which African immigrants to Italy, as racially marked subjects, are affected by the discourses of race and criminalization. Rather than discuss immigrants in Italy's social landscape generally, this article focuses attention on immigration policies and forms of racism and racialized violence that have been on the rise as immigrant populations in Italy increase in number and become more visible.