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The rapidity of recent social transformations and the suspension of much of the knowledge that has settled in our daily lives call for a twofold action: designing new political objectives of social justice and shedding light on analytical tools capable of both laying bare inequalities and the power structures that feed them, and outlining paths of transformative intervention. The link between sociology and utopia emerges here with particular clarity. Both, in fact, refer to an imaginary reconstruction of society. Starting with the most recent thematisation of utopia – whose real, everyday, concrete, embodied character is emphasised – this essay explores the link between utopias, common sense and everyday life. The aim is to weave the threads between the transformations of common sense and everyday utopian practices against the backdrop of that re-enchantment of the everyday of Weberian memory. The space-time of the everyday becomes the stage where minute, banal and taken for granted routines can become counter-hegemonic actions, everyday utopias endowed with transformative power.

The article explores the relationship between time-space experience and creativity, focusing on the everyday practices and strategies used by young people to tackle the contemporary processes of acceleration and compression of urban times and spaces. The dimensions of time and space are proposed in an explorative way, in order to investigate the fertility of the concept of creativity in sociological debate. The proposal is based on qualitative research conducted in Milan on young cosmopolitans (PhD students, artists and designers) who were temporarily living in the city to further their studies.

In the last few years there has been a significant increase in studies on migrants' associations and political participation. These analyses generally focus on the macro- social aspects of migrants' associations and political participation: scholars combine this phenomenon with the study of social capital and networks on one hand, and the concepts of civic community and political opportunity structure on the other. Nevertheless there is still a lack of attention to both the internal dynamics of migrants' associations, and the conflictual aspects of their mobilizations. The paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted in the city of Milan examining specific forms of migrants' associations claiming citizenship and political rights. The narratives of the migrants involved in these associations shed light on their subjective perception both of mis-recognition as humans from Italian institutions and paternalistic support from Italian activists. These conflictual elements are the reason they establish associations and embark on forms of mobilization. Special attention is devoted to an impressive protest that saw migrants occupying the top of a disused industrial chimney in November 2010. The protest - which came about against the outcome of the 2009 amnesty described by migrants as 'fraudulent', and at the same time aimed to relaunch the mobilization of migrants in Italy after many years of inactivity - failed after 2 months. Internal divisions within the Immigrants' Committee on the way to conduct the protest was one of the main reasons for its failure.

AbstractIn the late 1970s, Italy switched from being a source of émigrés to becoming a recipient of immigrants. The city of Milan and its surrounding region led the way. A multitude of migrant associations sprang up as migrants pursued their quest for recognition as subjects and citizens. This study draws on the author's interviews with members of Milan's migrant associations to examine the inner dynamics both between migrants within associations, and between migrant members and those volunteers, both Italian and of other nationalities, who work with the associations. This study shows that the forms of solidarity and engagement offered by Italian activists represent a platform where the process of identity construction occurs and (mis)recognition practices are played out. As the article will point out, migrants are sometimes quite critical of the activities of Italian activists. In short, the study suggests that the consideration of two dimensions – identity and recognition – as they arise within everyday social practices, could make a useful contribution to the further study of the social phenomena of migrants' associations and political participation.

The popular mobilisations of 2010-11, known as the 'Arab Spring', have had a global resonance well beyond the Arab world, affecting the lives of migrants with Arab- Mediterranean background living in Europe. Drawing on qualitative analysis, this article explores the impact of the Arab Spring on second generation's young people of Egyptian origin living in Italy. This study shows that research participants have a diverse assessment of the outcomes of the uprisings, that they have participated in them in different ways, and that they have contributed to the construction of common or contested narratives around them, both in the public and private discourse. Moreover, the research discusses the impact of these key historical events on young people's identity and sense of belonging, as well as on their transnational ties and practices. The transnational political engagement of research participants is examined to investigate how second generations experience a transnational life and build transnational identities. This study contributes to the debate on the relationship between transnationalism and second/third generations.

In the last decades, the increasing geographic mobility of young people (for educational, professional, and further reasons) has led scholars of youth studies to shift their interest towards this phenomenon for better understanding the new forms of transition to adulthood. Nevertheless, it seems that little attention has been paid until now to the interdependence between their geographic mobility and their family, territorial and cultural origins and therefore how these factors affect how young people image and project their transition to adulthood. Thus, departing from the research fields of youth studies, mobility studies, and higher education studies, this article focuses on the mobility paths of Italian students and the ways they understand their mobility condition (starting from the question whether it is a free choice or not), taking into account, on the one hand, the growing pressure of a more and more competitive global labor market and, on the other hand, the cultural and economic resources (or capitals) they cumulated through their family and territorial socialization. In the analysis, we will however highlight how, despite the conditions sometimes not favorable, the respondents showed a reflexive competence when they make choices about their education, mobility and professional path and think about their ways of becoming 'adult'.