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

We have immersed ourselves in a context that in the eyes of an observer passes for a best practice, with all its peculiarities. As such, it seemed the territory most likely to receive our objective: to imagine and implement actions to support the inclusive capacities of local systems with regard to the Roma.

Activism and political participation concretely summarize the concept of inclusion that we mean more specifically and qualify our action to contrast theanti-gypsyism. The Abruzzo region between Lanciano and Pescara was in fact chosen for the high level of integration of approximately 9 of the 10 families of Roma origin present in the area. The members of these families are not only well integrated into the social fabric of the city where they reside, but they all have stable and long-standing incomes, with personalities who hold highly specialized and responsible roles within the companies, such as Roberto Spinelli, head of personnel at the D'Orsogna factory, and Moreno di Rocco, chemist responsible for quality control for the DeCecco pasta factory. From this point of view, the existence of a good practice has indeed been found, in the sense that the Roma community in the area does not suffer from a deficit of primary needs and generally has an income from work, but this condition is often paid for at the price of hiding one's Roma identity, when one is not betrayed by one's surname.

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

Several meetings were held between 2023 and 2024; to understand the material and immaterial needs of the local Roma community, to understand the reasons of the political agents (opinion leaders and stakeholders) what problems they encountered with the community to arrive over time at 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 tried to translate our objectives into concrete actions and measures capable of giving 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 the so-called local stakeholders, trying to mediate between mutual expectations with Focus Groups focused on Roma activism, providing examples from all over 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 met with the six Roma and Sinti candidates for the last European and administrative elections in June 2024.

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

Not having imposed the presence of any member of the community and having accompanied the meetings with examples of Roma activism both on a European and Italian level has meant that the participants in the ACE meetings have almost doubled from the first to the last. As Santino Spinelli recalled, the hidden identity, which translates into a passivity in socio-political life in the local context, is a form of resistance and not a weakness. To stem it, the material and immaterial support of the institutions is essential, which must in this sense protect and safeguard those Roma and Romni who already have an income and are well integrated into the majority community and would be ready to claim their ethnicity.

But without the contribution of political decision-makers, it is more likely that the current situation will stagnate and that the inclusive path outlined by the project will not reach its conclusion, also because the institution, with its official communication channels, is the only one capable of fighting fake news or targeted news for instrumental and emergency purposes that the Italian media generally still make about the Roma people.

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

The proposals that received the most votes 1, i.e. immediately implementable, were:
1. Remember the Roma contribution to the construction of the Italian state in speeches on national holidays (10 votes) 2. Display the Roma flag from the Municipality on significant days of the Romani calendar (9 votes) 3. Formal honors in the wake of symbolic citizenships to Roma people who have distinguished themselves in civil society and at work, “Open the doors”: a long-term project congiornate on inclusion, Department of Interculturality (8 votes).

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

Curated by Enrico Mascilli Migliorini

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

The aim is to broaden the theoretical, methodological and disciplinary perspective with the aim of developing a knowledge base that helps to understand the conditions that favor cycling mobility and the characteristics of its variability. What can favor or prevent, in other words, the multiplicity of its uses as a means of transport in urban and extra-urban environments and for leisure (sports and tourism).

Those interested in the call can articulate theirs contribution proposal (an abstract of max 250 words) starting from these questions: what are the characteristics of urban, tourist and sporting cycling mobility, how are they taking shape, who are the actors and supporting policies? With what results? What are the connections between cycling, sport and tourism? What hybridizations? How does the technological innovation of the bike develop? How are the bike materials configured? How is the bike industry and marketing structured? How are 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 call document.

The bike is experiencing a new season. The sales figures, the expansion of cycle tourism, the diffusion of the city's use of bicycles and alternative vehicles and in some way attributable to new forms of mobility in environments that are not very bike-friendly, the new cultural sensitivity towards the ecological transition are among indicators of its rediscovery. In the memory of many, the bike is associated with pleasant experiences of exploration and freedom. The bike is considered one friendly technology (Illich, 1973; Pivato, 2021), capable of creating balanced ways of relating to the environment. There are many cities and regions that have invested in cycling and have favored the moderation of speed in urban spaces. On World Bicycle Day, however, it is important to remember that cycling is not as widespread as one might expect.

The delay in cycling

To understand the reasons for the 'delay' in the diffusion of cycle mobility, which are particularly significant in our country, apart from commendable exceptions and in the face of a significant increase in the number of bicycles in circulation, from the lockdown period onwards, it has developed, through the collaboration between researchers from the IRPPS CNR, the University of Naples 'Federico II', the University of Turin, the University of Padua, the University of Siena, the University of Salerno, the FIAB Research Center a national research network. The emerging network has given rise to a lucky streak of online seminars that it is still possible to review today; he has also produced a 'special issue' in the magazine Eracle (Landri & Tirino, 2022) and is finally working on a book on bikes and society. The network, as it has been possible to understand, is unique and tends to follow the international network 'small' Cycling & Society which for several years has been the reference point of scientific production in this sector (Cox, 2020; Cox & Bunte, 2018; Equality & Cox, 2020).

The theme of cycle mobility is expanding by number of publications. Therefore, it can already be observed that the 'delay' in the diffusion of the bicycle runs parallel to the 'delay' in the development of academic communities which look at the bicycle. The scientific literature on the car, by comparison, is widely spread.  The rediscovery of the bike, even on an academic level, essentially places us before a fact for granted: contemporary societies are self-centric (Urry, 2004) and show variable degrees of sensitivity towards cycling (Belloni, 2019).

Indeed, countries may differ in relation to national cycling cultures. Italy has a sporty cycling culture, but not a widespread cycling culture (except in some regions), as in other countries, Holland, Belgium. However, cycling cultures are not immutable, they can regenerate, evolve over time, emerge where they are not present. Analyzing the cultural dimension, as emerged during the special issue curated by two researchers from the bicycle and society research network (Landri & Tirino, 2022), is a promising research path for understanding what favors cycling.

The media favor cycling

Among the factors that favor it, the media play an important role. The epic narration of cycling emerges in our country precisely in relation to the processes of construction of the national state. That narrative is now giving way to the dynamic storytelling of cyclists on social media. Social platforms, on the one hand, capture cycling in the extractivist logic of digital capitalism; on the other hand, they create new sports practices such as virtual cycling (which is now one of the various e-Sports), but they also encourage the emergence of new subjects (women, LGBT+ communities), expanding cycling practice. Unlike traditional media which aimed to create the epic deeds of champions, social media, by promoting the circulation of knowledge among practitioners, allow an increase in connections, sociality, communication and lower the barriers to accessing the practice. In short, by democratizing knowledge, they act as positive incentives for the diffusion of cycling.

Media is necessary, but it is not enough. Building bike-friendly societies is actually also a scientific challenge that requires a constant flow of empirical research and theoretical reflections. In fact, it is a question of generating knowledge to favor minimum conditions for cycling in environments that are mainly thought of in a self-centred way. It is not just a technical fact, it rather requires, as is emerging from the works on the web, the development of a sociology of the bicycle, understood as the search for a virtuous concatenation between knowledge, techniques and society.

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

References

Belloni, E. (2019). When you rode a velocipede. History of cycling in Italy (1870-1955). Franco Angeli.

Cox, P. (2020). Cycling : A Sociology of Velomobility.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. Heracles. Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 5(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.6093/2611-6693/9612

Pivato, S. (2021). Happiness on a bicycle.Il Mulino.

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