Social inclusion through sports: a short comparison of Italy and France

Abstract

The recent flow of immigrants to Italy and France, two countries that are the principal destinations after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, has turned out to be a complex and multidimensional problem to manage. Both France and Italy organised a complex method for welcoming and distributing the migrants around their territory as much as possible, hosting them in structures adapted or created for this purpose. On the Italian side, two main issues might be identified and analysed: on the one hand the humanitarian emergency of the reception of the migrants, on the other hand, the difficult processes of social integration/inclusion which were put in place. On the French side, these issues are linked to the managing of the risk of radicalisation, in a context in which the memory of the recent terrorist attacks remains vivid. In dealing with the management of the process of social integration/inclusion, sport has proven to be an important (although controversial) opportunity for social inclusion of young immigrants. Micro participatory action-research has highlighted the potential given by a shared cultural framework, such as that provided by the practice of sport. On the Italian side, these practices have not yet been institutionalised, while on the French side there is a more organic strategy, based on a longer standing tradition of using sport as a means of social inclusion. Starting from this premise about the situation of the two countries, we will propose a descriptive and theoretical comparison based on some case studies that we consider significant in terms of the French and Italian approach to social inclusion through sports.