Foreigners, Immigrants, Host Cities: The Policies of Multi-Ethnicity in Rome. Reading Governance in a Local Context

This paper reviews the experience of Rome in dealing with the challenges posed by a multi-ethnic society. A central feature of the local political strategy is the “Pact of Integration”. The adoption of the Pact proposes governance as a model of participation including many actors, namely immigrant communities, in the comprehensive development of the quality of life of the city and not only in the decision-making mechanisms of local powers. The Pact represents a contract by which the social and political acceptance of foreigners in the local environment is perceived as benefiting both the foreign and autochthonous communities. On one hand, immigrants are incorporated into their local environment, following from the recognition of foreigners’ rights and needs for solidarity. On the other hand, foreigners are considered agents of local development insofar as they are both consumers and producers. The multiethnic society can then be a source of development. The preface by Franca Eckert Coen provides an overview of the city’s experiences in managing religious differences.