Enea is an Italian student. New generations and citizenship

Abstract

What ‘bridges’ there are between the first generations who immigrated to Italy from many different countries and the second or third generations born and raised in Italy?
Along with the difficulties, and sometimes the suffering of the “lives in between” there are also positive aspects: the new generations of immigrants look like all the new generations but are more cosmopolitan and more “naturally” intercultural be-cause they are used to seeking a balance between different worlds. They are girls and boys who are indeed Italians, but still without citizenship. They know more languages than their Italian peers and achieve better results in learning English, as shown by the annual Invalsi surveys. They are projected towards the culture of the country in which they live. “Natural equilibrists”, they can teach us something about what it means to grow up managing similarities and differences. They can tell us about a new idea of citizenship.