Since the summer of 2023, IRPPS-CNR has been operating in the Frentana area with the project Active Citizenship in Europe.

We immersed ourselves in a context that, to an observer, appears as a best practice, with all its unique characteristics. As such, it seemed the territory most capable of embracing our objective: to imagine and implement actions to support the inclusive capacities of local systems regarding the Roma people.

Activism and political participation concretely summarize the concept of inclusion that we intend more specifically, and qualify our action to combat anti-Gypsyism. Indeed, the Abruzzo territory between Lanciano and Pescara was chosen for the high degree of integration of approximately 9 out of 10 families of Roma origin present in the area. Members of these families are not only well-integrated into the social fabric of their cities of residence, but they have all had stable incomes for some time, with individuals holding highly specialized and responsible roles within companies, such as Roberto Spinelli, head of personnel at the D’Orsogna factory, and Moreno di Rocco, a chemist responsible for quality control at the De Cecco pasta factory. From this perspective, the existence of a good practice was indeed found, in the sense that the Roma community in the area does not suffer from a deficit of primary needs and generally has an earned income; however, this condition is often paid for at the price of hiding one’s Roma identity, unless betrayed by one’s surname.

In practice, the well-being and potential development of this good practice were ensured by a hidden identity.

Various meetings were held between 2023 and 2024 to understand the material and immaterial needs of the local Roma community, and to understand the perspectives of political agents (opinion leaders and stakeholders) regarding the issues they encountered with the community. The goal was to eventually reach the construction of a common action plan, with practical actions aimed at improving the socio-cultural conditions of the Frentana Roma community. In these meetings, we sought to translate our objectives into concrete acts and measures capable of bringing a turning point to this relational status quo, in defense of an identity to which the EU, which finances the project, recognizes full citizenship.

We did the same with local stakeholders, attempting to mediate between mutual expectations through Focus Groups targeted at Roma activism, providing examples from across Europe.
The next step was to establish the basis for a shared action plan between the Frentana Roma community and local institutions through Mutual Learning and Mentoring meetings, where the Roma of the Frentana area also engaged with the six Roma and Sinti candidates from the recent European and local elections in June 2024.

The path undertaken, even if the political plan still needs to be implemented in various municipalities, is nonetheless a success.

Not having imposed attendance on any member of the community and having accompanied the meetings with examples of Roma activism on both European and Italian levels resulted in the number of participants at ACE meetings nearly doubling from the first to the last. As Santino Spinelli noted, a hidden identity—which translates into passivity in socio-political life within the local context—is a form of resistance rather than a weakness. To overcome it, the material and immaterial support of institutions is indispensable; in this sense, they must protect and safeguard those Roma men and women who already have an income and are well-integrated into the majority community and would be ready to reclaim their ethnicity.

However, without the contribution of political decision-makers, it is more likely that the current situation will stagnate and the inclusive path outlined by the project will not reach its conclusion. This is also because the institution, through its official communication channels, is the only entity capable of combating fake news or targeted information used for instrumental or emergency purposes that the Italian media generally still produce regarding the Roma people.

As a final step, in the concluding meeting on October 4, 2024, we asked Roma members and stakeholders to rank, in the order they deemed most appropriate, “the practical proposals that each of you considers most immediately achievable to stimulate our objectives and help local communities and institutions foster and renew inclusive and anti-discriminatory paths.”
Votes range from 1 to 7, where 1 means immediately achievable and 7 unachievable.
The proposals are: 1. Departments for Intercultural Affairs 2. Anti-discrimination councils in the province of Chieti 3. Hiring a Roma man/woman in the Municipality or public offices, or as the head of anti-discrimination desks or similar 4. Displaying the Roma flag from the Municipality on significant days of the Romani calendar (August 2, October 5, November 5, April 8, May 16) 5. Remembering the Roma contribution to the construction of the Italian State in speeches during national holidays (January 27, April 25, May 1, June 2) 6. Communication and promotion campaign of Roma history and culture on institutional channels with videos and short information pages 7. Formal honors following symbolic citizenships for Roma people who have distinguished themselves in civil society and work 8. “Open the doors: we are here”: a medium/long-term integration project including Roma-themed days and moments of discussion between the Frentana Roma community, civil society, and the institutions representing both (festivals and musical/gastronomic initiatives).

The proposals receiving the most “1” votes, meaning immediately achievable, were:
1. Remembering the Roma contribution to the construction of the Italian State in speeches during national holidays (10 votes) 2. Displaying the Roma flag from the Municipality on significant days of the Romani calendar (9 votes) 3. Formal honors following symbolic citizenships for Roma people who have distinguished themselves in civil society and work; “Open the doors”: a long-term project with inclusion days; Department for Intercultural Affairs (8 votes).

To learn more about the sociological methodologies used in the meetings, to see photos, and to read reports of the various activities, please visit the website https://ace-project.eu/

Edited by Enrico Mascilli Migliorini

Following the first seminar in Padua, which took place from November 30 to December 1, 2023, the Bici & Società research network continues its work in the city of Salerno, inviting participants to focus on the multiplicity of cycling practices.

The aim is to broaden the theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary perspective in order to develop a knowledge base that helps understand the conditions that favor cycling mobility and the characteristics of its variability. In other words, what may facilitate or hinder the multiplicity of its uses as a means of transport in urban and extra-urban environments and for leisure (sport and tourism).

Those interested in the call may structure their contribution proposal (an abstract of max 250 words) based on the following questions: what are the characteristics of urban, tourist, and sports cycling mobility, how are they taking shape, who are the actors and what policies support them? With what results? What are the connections between cycling, sport, and tourism? What hybridizations? How is technological innovation in cycling developing? How are bicycle materials configured? How are the bicycle industry and marketing structured? How is cycling mobility conveyed by the media?

The contribution proposal must be sent by June 30, 2024 to the email: p.landri@irpps.cnr.it

Further information is available in the call.

The bicycle is experiencing a new era. Sales data, the expansion of cycle tourism, the widespread urban use of bikes and alternative vehicles—somehow linked to new forms of mobility in environments that are not very bike-friendly—and a new cultural sensitivity toward the ecological transition are among the indicators of its rediscovery. In the memory of many, the bike is associated with pleasant experiences of exploration and freedom. The bicycle is considered a convivial technology (Illich, 1973; Pivato, 2021), capable of creating balanced modes of relationship with the environment. Many cities and regions have invested in cycling and encouraged speed moderation in urban spaces. On World Bicycle Day, however, it is important to remember that cycling practice is not as widespread as one might expect.

The delay in cycle mobility

To understand the reasons for the ‘delay’ in the spread of cycle mobility—which are particularly significant in our country, despite commendable exceptions and a notable increase in the number of bicycles in circulation since the lockdown period—a national research network has been developed through the collaboration between researchers from IRPPS CNR, the University of Naples ‘Federico II’, the University of Turin, the University of Padua, the University of Siena, the University of Salerno, and the FIAB Research Center. This emerging network has given rise to a successful series of online seminars that can still be viewed today; it has also produced a ‘special issue’ in the journal Eracle (Landri & Tirino, 2022) and is currently working on a book about bikes and society. The network, as has been understood, is unique and tends to follow ‘in miniature’ the international Cycling & Society network, which has been the reference point for scientific production in this sector for several years (Cox, 2020; Cox & Bunte, 2018; Equality & Cox, 2020).

The theme of cycle mobility is expanding in terms of the number of publications. It can, therefore, already be observed that the ‘delay’ in the spread of the bicycle runs parallel to the ‘delay’ in the development of academic communities that look at the bicycle. In comparison, scientific literature on the car is widely diffused. The rediscovery of the bike, even on an academic level, essentially confronts us with a given fact: contemporary societies are car-centric (Urry, 2004) and present varying degrees of sensitivity toward cycling practice (Belloni, 2019).

Countries can, in fact, differ in relation to national cycling cultures. Italy has a sporting cycling culture, but not a widespread cycling culture (except in some regions), as in other countries like the Netherlands or Belgium. Cycling cultures, however, are not immutable; they can regenerate, evolve over time, and emerge where they are not present. Analyzing the cultural dimension, as emerged during the special issue edited by two researchers from the research network on bikes and society (Landri & Tirino, 2022), is a promising research path to understand what encourages cycle mobility.

Media encourages cycle mobility

Among the factors that encourage it, the media plays a prominent role. The epic narrative of cycling emerged in our country precisely in relation to the processes of building the national state. Today, that narrative is giving way to the dynamic storytelling of cyclists on social media. On one hand, social platforms capture cycling within the extractivist logic of digital capitalism; on the other, they create new sporting practices such as virtual cycling (which is now one of several e-Sports), but also favor the emergence of new subjectivities (women, LGBT+ communities), broadening cycling practice. Unlike traditional media that aimed at creating the epic deeds of champions, social media, by encouraging the circulation of knowledge among practitioners, allows for an increase in connections, sociality, and communication, lowering the barriers to entry for the practice. In short, by democratizing knowledge, they act as positive incentives for the spread of cycling.

Media is necessary, but not sufficient. Building bike-friendly societies is actually also a scientific challenge that requires a constant flow of empirical research and theoretical reflection. It is, in fact, about generating knowledge to foster minimum conditions for cyclability in environments that are predominantly designed in a car-centric way. It is not just a technical matter; rather, as is emerging from the network’s work, it requires the development of a sociology of the bicycle, understood as the search for a virtuous concatenation between knowledge, techniques, and society.

Edited by Paolo Landri (on the occasion of World Bicycle Day, June 3, 2023)

Bibliographic references

Belloni, E. (2019). Quando si andava in velocipede. Storia della mobilità ciclistica in Italia (1870-1955). Franco Angeli.

Cox, P. (2020). Cycling: A Sociology of Vélomobility. Routledge.

Cox, P., & Bunte, H. (2018). Social practices and the importance of context. Framing the Third Cycling Century, 122–131. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1410/publikationen/181128_uba_fb_third_cycling_century_bf_small.pdf

Equality, I., & Cox, P. (2020). The politics of cycling infrastructure. The Politics of Cycling Infrastructure, 5940. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvvsqc63

Illich, I. (1973). Tools for conviviality. Harper and Row.

Landri, P., & Tirino, M. (2022). Media, Society and Cycling Cultures: Editorial. Eracle. Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 5(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.6093/2611-6693/9612

Pivato, S. (2021). La felicità in bicicletta. Il Mulino.

Urry, J. (2004). The ‘System’ of Automobility. Theory, Culture & Society, 21(5), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404046059