The present contribution describes Muslims’ opportunities for activism and political participation, as shaped institutionally and discursively, in Milan and Turin. It analyses the interplay between the national level and the local level, and assesses the implications that contrasting local arrangements have for Muslims’ activism, claims-making and, to a certain extent, even self-identifications – especially with reference to young, second-generation Muslims. In Milan Muslims are confronted with a very closed system of political opportunities, while in Turin there appears to be a much more open system, which aims at co-opting second-generation organisations in particular. The consequence is that while in Milan Muslims – especially second-generation ones – are resigned to being merely the recipients of integration policies, in Turin they can conceive themselves more as partners of the city’s institutions, by resorting to a strategy of ‘active citizenship’.

The present article applies a tripartite conceptualization of precarity–precariousness–precarization to examine the condition of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the basis of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with UAMs from 5 foster homes in Milan and 3 group interviews with their educators in 2022. By providing a detailed ethnographic account of UAMs’ trajectories, this study distinguishes between the macro-level forces of structural precarity (global inequalities, border regimes governing the entry of UAMs) and the micro-level, individual experience of precariousness (anxiety, necessitated short-termism) produced by processes of precarization, by which we refer to the normalization of insecurity, and the internalization of imperatives of adaptability. These appear evident both in the decision to migrate, with migration being described as a “normal” strategy, and in UAMs’ interaction with the border regime, whose moral economy (imposing a deservingness test to UAMs in order to include them) serves the States’ interests, rather than children’s best interest. This work shows that, on the one hand, the concept of precarization can significantly contribute to migration scholarship—by shedding light on the uncertain agency that individuals can exert amidst the ubiquitous precarity they face along their trajectories—and, on the other hand, the study of UAMs’ migration may add further layers of understanding of precarization dynamics.

Based on 20 semi-structured interviews collected in Italy between May and October 2022, the present article examines the lived experience of precarity of Ukrainian caregivers in times of polycrisis—namely, the COVID pandemic and the war which affects their country of origin, Ukraine. The interviewees’ self-narratives show an acute awareness of the suffering that a pervasive precarity has caused them all along their trajectories and during such crises, as they endured legal precarity, economic precarity, housing precarity, and affective precarity. In describing the hardship endured, interviewees adopt a language of resilience, depicting themselves as strong(er) and bold women, used to difficulties. A closer look allows to appreciate the nuances of such claimed resilience: in line with studies focusing on dynamics of precarization (Armano et al., 2022; Lorey 2015), we distinguish between “forced resilience,” on one hand, corresponding to narratives that convey the internalization of an imperative of adaptability, performance, and self-discipline, entailing the acceptance of adverse situations, and, on the other hand, “self-aware resilience,” corresponding to narratives that express the desire to be identified with the strength shown in overcoming obstacles, rather than with the sufferance caused by these obstacles. Lastly, we highlight the gendered and geopolitical dimensions of these forms of resilience, as our participants emphasized that belonging to the community of fellow Ukrainian female caregivers has been a crucial resource for coping with difficulties throughout their trajectories—particularly since the onset of the Russian invasion—ultimately contributing to the forging of a shared “culture of resilience.”