Paper short abstract:

Due to marginality produced by Italy's jus sanguinis citizenship regime, "second generation" young adults formed the “G2” network in 2005. This paper considers how members of the G2 movement negotiate various levels of identity and simultaneously coalesce under the G2 umbrella.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the Italy's "G2" network as a response to a group's social and political marginality.  Because of the Italian jus sanguinis citizenship regime and the difficulty of obtaining naturalization even for those born and raised in Italy, the "children of immigration" often face exclusion. Even where these "new Italians" have managed local inclusion, in several widely reported incidents second generation youths have faced discrimination as "non-EU" citizens.  The "G2" network was formed in 2005 by so-called "second generation" young adults, children of immigrants and refugees/asylum-seekers living in Italy.  This association mainly organizes through its online website, blog and forum, and also operates through local groups in several Italian cities. G2 has focused on citizenship as a key issue, and over the past year it has brought the members' case for changing the citizenship law to the attention of politicians. In addition to citizenship in legal terms, there is also much discussion among G2 members of what it means to be Italian, especially if one "doesn't look" Italian.  The question of Italian identity is particularly interesting for exploring the problematic inclusion of the second generations, as it is a site of pre-existing tensions within autocthonous Italian society, given persistent North-South differences and robust local identities. This paper, then, will consider how members of the G2 variously articulate forms of identity that negotiate different levels (local, regional, national, EU, transnational, ethnic), and at the same time coalesce as a movement under the G2 umbrella.