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SLIDING ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP: MAKING AND MOULDING LEGAL AND SOCIAL CATEGORIES IN PRESENT-DAY HORN OF AFRICA [Abstract ID: 0701-01]
In the Horn of Africa, the population of Italian ancestry - recognized or not (yet) - is the result of historical events that have affected the territory, and of citizenship laws in force over time. The size of and the sense of belonging to the Ethiopian-Italian and Eritrean-Italian communities, both real and imagined, have undergone changes due to the relations of these people with the different authorities that decide how they can exercise their rights and duties. As a result, in the Horn, the interplay between the various political and social actors shaped people of Italian descent as a minority and a “different” group that has tended to reproduce itself, even in the post-colonial era. This paper, using an interdisciplinary and quali-quantitative approach, means to analyse the demographic trend of the population of people of Italian descent over time in the Horn. Moreover, with particular regard to the post-independence period, it wants to consider the interest in obtaining Italian citizenship, in relation both to the procedures and motivations that allow to get it, as to the current socio-political environment in today’s Horn, which results in strong migratory outflows. Thus, the interest lies in the point of convergence between the process of inclusion within legal (citizenship) and social (identity) categories and the perception of such inclusion in terms of stigma or resource.