Has Multiculturalism Failed in Europe? Migration Policies, State of Emergency, and Their Impact on Migrants’ Identities in Italy

Abstract

This chapter analyzes migration policies in Italy within the larger frame of the debate on multiculturalism and its failure in Europe. The first part focuses on the exceptional flow of migrants that after the recent conflicts in Northern Africa was directed toward Europe across the Italian coast. The emergency raised issues for the defense of territories, social security, and preservation of identity. The author demonstrates the inefficiency of the Italian migration and emergency policies that has been adopted at the arrival of undocumented migrants from Northern Africa in 2011. The chapter uses the case of Italy to show the weakness of Europe in developing effective forms of coexistence and integration among different ethnic groups.