Immigrant Political Integration in Times of Permanent Crisis: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective from Italy

Abstract

This article investigates immigrant political integration in Italy through the lens of Multi-Level Governance (MLG), examining whether a framework so far applied mainly to socio-economic integration and refugee reception also illuminates the political dimension, and how its core dynamics unfold there. Building on three concepts associated with MLG in immigrant integration studies – the local turn, governance decoupling, and battleground – the article examines how these unfold when the focus shifts from service provision and social inclusion to political participation and representation, drawing on national policy analysis and a case study of immigrant consultative bodies in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, focusing on the city of Parma. The findings confirm the relevance of the local turn and governance decoupling, but in a more pronounced form than in socio-economic integration, whereas the battleground dimension proves the most distinctively reshaped in this policy field, mobilizing a partially different constellation of actors and introducing stronger internal fragmentation within immigrant constituencies. The analysis reveals a broader weakening of immigrant councils in Italy – marked by declining activity, a shift from elected to appointed membership, and persistent ambiguity over their representative mandate – as institutional retrenchment unfolds within a broader process of “permanent crisis” (crisification). The article contributes to MLG theory by exposing distinctive governance dynamics challenging representation, legitimacy, and voice under conditions of weak institutional consolidation.