LONDON - Italians living in the United Kingdom represent a rich community under several aspects, now united by an event that has had a considerable impact on their lives: Brexit. A political watershed, but also a complex path to the independence of the United Kingdom from the European Union. A path which began in 2016, with effects which are still difficult to frame.
What is the scenario today for those Italians who live, work and study in the UK?
This is the question posed by Across the Channel, a study on Italian and British-Italian / Italian-British identities in the United Kingdom funded by Brunel University, London - Institute of Communities and Society.
It was launched by the Comites of London, with the aim to collect as many testimonies as possible on the experiences of Italians in the United Kingdom, in particular after Brexit and in relation to the Settled Status requests (the legal status of immigration that allows to a person who holds it to live and work in the United Kingdom for an indefinite period) and the requests for the recognition of British citizenship.
The research - continues Comites - was designed to investigate multiple aspects: financial and economical, social and cultural, but also existential and personal. What means to move abroad in search of a job or to study, and what changes according to one's possibilities family members? Is it really easier to find a job and settle down in the UK? What are the most promising study and work paths in the United Kingdom, and how do factors such as age, income and training paths influence the arrival and stay in the United Kingdom? Is the latter really, as a whole, a more open and tolerant society, for example in terms of women's rights, gender identities and the fight against racism? What are the motivations of those who decide to take citizenship and those who want to return?
To spread the news of this study among the communities of compatriots abroad is Marco Benoît Carbone, Senior Lecturer (associate professor) in Intercultural Studies at Brunel University, London: "the research is open to all, as long as they have lived for at least one year in the UK between 2015 and the present; we encourage the participation of people of all ages, backgrounds, walks of life and study and professional ".
For this purpose, a questionnaire has been prepared, through which it is possible to share one's experience, contributing to the understanding of an Italic fresco abroad that shows no signs of evolving in the post-pandemic era. To take part to the questionnaire just click https://acrossthechannel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/across-the-channel-survey.
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