Dr Giuseppe Scotto

Biography

I was born in Foggia, in Southern Italy, where I grew up. At the age of 18 I moved to Milan, where I got my bachelor degree in Economics, Statistics and Social Sciencies and had my first work experiences; subsequently I migrated first to Amsterdam, where I obtained an MSc in Contemporary  Asian Studies, and then to Brighton, where I recently completed my PhD in Migration Studies at Sussex. In this way, my own personal background is well linked with my research interests in transnationalism, professional migration and Italian diaspora.

Role

Affiliated Member, Sussex Centre for Migration Research

Associate Tutor, School of Business, Management and Economics

Qualifications

• PhD in Migration Studies (University of Sussex, 2012)
• MSc in Comparative and Cross-Cultural Research Methods (University of Sussex, 2008)
• MSc in Contemporary Asian Studies (University of Amsterdam, 2006)
• Italian laurea in Economics, Statistics and Social sciences, major in Historical Social Sciences (Bocconi University, 2004)

Activities

Presentations:

• October 25, 2012, Rotterdam (Netherlands): ‘Migrant Transnationalism, Integration and Return’ Workshop, Organised by: the IMITE standing committee (a collaboration of Peace Research Institute Oslo, Maastricht University and Erasmus University Rotterdam); title: ‘Political integration and transnationalism among first- and second-generation Italians in London’
• February 15, 2012, Brighton (United Kingdom): Sussex European Institute Research in Progress Seminar; title: ‘The political participation of migrants: a study of the Italian communities in London’
• September 14, 2011, Ponta Delgada (Portugal): Presentation at the 16th International Metropolis Conference; title: 'The Italian network in London from past to present days'
• September 9, 2011, Palermo (Italy): Presentation at the XXV Convegno SISP (Italian Society of Political Science); title: ' The transnational political participation of Italian citizens in London'
• July 17, 2011, Brighton (United Kingdom): Presentation at the 'Migration Research in Progress: A Graduate Students Workshop'; title: 'The impact of the institutional and associational network on the identity building and the mobilization of Italian citizens in London'
• July 14, 2011, London (United Kingdom): Presentation at the 'Londonicity Conference: The Second Annual London Studies' Conference; title: 'From Clerkenwell to the City: the Italian presence in London'
• June 18, 2011, Rome (Italy) : Presentation at the 'Echi Oltremare: Italy, the Mediterranean...and Beyond' Conference; title: 'Meritocracy and legality: the discourse of ‘new’ Italian migration to London'
• May 13, 2011, Cardiff (United Kingdom): Presentation at the 'Within and Without: Representing Diasporas in Europe' Conference; title: 'The Use of Off-line and On-line Spaces and the Process of Identity Building in the Italian Community in London'
• August 30, 2010, Dublin (Republic of Ireland): Presentation at the 3rd ECPR Graduate Conference; title: ‘A case of political transnationalism: the external voting of Italians in the UK’
• May 28, 2010, Oslo (Norway): Presentation at the PRIO; title: ‘Intra-EU mobility and political transnationalism: The case of Italians in London’
• November 20, 2009, London (United Kingdom): Presentation at the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of London,; title: 'From Bedford to London: old and new Italian immigration'
  

Scholarships:

• September 2010 - February 2011: Puglia regional scholarship for international research activity of young Puglia's graduates
• April 2010 - July 2010: Visiting period at the International Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), funded by the Research Council of Norway's Yggdrasil - young guest and doctoral researchers' annual scholarships for investigation and learning

Summer Schools:

• ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques: course on QCA and Fuzzy Sets (University of Ljubljana, 2009)
• Harvard-Manchester Summer Workshop on Immigration and Social Change in Britain and the US (University of Manchester , 2008)

Previous work experience:

• November 2009 - April 2010 and November 2008 - April 2009: Administrative Assistant for the Chevening Programme on Managing Migration at the University of Sussex
• February - May 2005: Intern in the Asia research group at the Institute for the Studies of International Politics (ISPI), Milan

• Social and political transnationalism
• Migrant political identity and mobilisation
• Italian emigration and diaspora
• Mobility to the East Asia-Pacific region

PhD title: The Political Participation of Migrants: a Study of the Italian Communities in London

Summary

My doctoral thesis dealt with the historical evolution, social networks, and – above all – the political participation of Italian citizens who are resident in London. The value of my research stems from an increasing interest – evident in the literature – in migrant transnational identities and in the political participation of migrant groups both in their home and host countries. Also relevant is the growing importance of London as a destination for Italian migrants.

The study adopted a theoretical framework based on political opportunity structure and on the construction of social and community identity. It deployed a mix of methods that involved a questionnaire, ethnographic methods such as open and semi-structured interviews and participant observation, and some elements of discourse analysis, in order to analyse the social and political activity of three components of the Italian communities who are resident in London: the “old” migrants who arrived in the UK between the end of World War Two and the late 1970s; their descendants, the British-born Italians; and the “new” migrants, who have moved to London since the mid-1980s. Comparison across these three waves produced important insights into the development of Italian identity in London over more than half a century.

In the three main empirical chapters the thesis examined (1) what characterises the Italian presence, in terms of socio-economic characteristics and identification; (2) how an Italian institutional and associational network, active in London, influences the building of a collective identity in the Italian communities and helps mobilise them; and (3) to what degree and how London Italians think they may contribute to political, social, and cultural change in their home and host countries.

The primary data that I presented show that belonging to one of the three generational groups outlined above has a great impact on the ties with both the UK and Italy and, in particular, with the Italian institutional and associational network in London; that this network plays an important role in the emergence of a new discourse on “Italianness” among recently arrived Italian migrants; that different forms of Italian identity are constructed and performed by Italians from the three different groups in their interaction with the social and political opportunity structure they experience in London; and finally that all this affects local and transnational political loyalties and behaviour.

• January - April 2013: Associate Tutor for the Corporate Social Responsibility Course (UG Level, BMEC School - University of Sussex)
• September - December 2012: Associate Tutor for the Introduction to Business and Management Course (UG Level, BMEC School - University of Sussex)
• January - June 2011: Associate Tutor for the Making of Modern Europe II Basics and Advanced Courses (UG Level, LPS School - the University of Sussex)

Student Consultation

Monday 13:00 -14:00

Jubilee 227

Scotto, Giuseppe (2010) Italiani a Londra tra tradizione e meritocrazia. In: Rapporto Italiani nel Mondo 2010. Edizioni Idos, pp. 399-408.