Dynamics of identity and otherness within intercultural feminist practices in Italy

ABSTRACT

Drawing on fieldwork carried out in 2012–2013, this article explores the dynamics of identity and otherness within selected women’s intercultural associations in Italy in the light of the following issue: how to acknowledge differences among women – based primarily on ‘race’, ethnicity, legal status/citizenship, class and age – while maintaining a common political project. This article focuses on the contexts, which facilitate the formation of such a project by promoting the contesting of rigid categorization of women on grounds of nationality or culture. It first focuses on what is referred to as ‘a starting point a bit displaced’, second on the desire to move beyond divisions on nationality grounds and third on the concept of hybridity as a bridge between women. At the same time, the article confronts those issues that might conceal power differentials among women and argues in favour of a notion of feminist intercultural reflexivity.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• gender
• intercultural practices
• postcolonial feminism
• identity
• solidarity

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ursula Barry and Dr. Alice Feldman for their invaluable guidance in my research and for this article as well as the other lecturers in the School of Social Justice, Women’s Studies Programme of the University College of Dublin for their constant support. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their precious comments and to Prof. Floya Anthias for further insights and inspiration.

Finally, I owe deep gratitude to the women I interviewed and their associations who, with their generosity, made this research possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. I have used the term ‘Italian-born’ instead of ‘Italian’ to indicate that these women were born with Italian citizenship, which however, can also be acquired through residence in the country.

2. The grounds that I have included are those that emerged as the most significant within the explored intercultural feminist practices and contributed towards the establishment of a project aimed at bringing together feminist and anti-racist aims. This does not mean that other grounds, such as sexuality and ability are not relevant, issues that will hopefully be explored in further studies.