The Descendants of Italian Migrants in Germany. Integration and Discrimination at School

The relationship between ethnic discrimination and education represents an interesting perspective from which to investigate the integration of migrants’ descendants, as it enables us to identify early instances of discrimination and everyday practices that affect both their integration into the host society, and their life courses. The ethnic discrimination encountered by the descendants of migrants during their education is often characterized by violence – of a psychological and symbolic nature – and is a manifestation of a power asymmetry perpetrated by a social institution whose purpose should actually be that of turning out good citizens in liberal democracies. My paper is based on qualitative research on second and third generation Italians in Germany and their continuing integration problems. Given that the German education system is based on streaming or 'tracking', many of the descendants of Italian migrants (and migrants in general) are assigned to vocational schools, or even 'special' schools at an early stage in their academic careers. This is something that effectively compromises their future opportunities in terms of work and social recognition. It therefore represents an early form of discrimination based on ethnic diversity, the effects of which compound the ambivalent sense of belonging and political disaffection of second and third generation Italians.