Migranti, rifugiati, minoranze etniche: persone dietro le parole

The essay focuses the attention on the process of social and institutional construction of the social categories of migrants’, refugees and ethnic minorities. In a context shaped by nationalistic ideologies, these categories have emerged as the result of borders’ demarcation, distinguishing those who “belong” to the Nation-state and those who are only partially included in the political community, according to various forms of civic stratification and to a given perception of the social distance among different groups and categories. Strategies and choices concerning the regulation of human mobility are thus deeply shaped by these kinds of perceptions, able to both exclude some categories and include other ones, according to artificial distinctions whose ethical foundations and consequences are usually underestimated.