Religion, Race and Migrants’ Integration in Italy: The Case of Ghanaian Migrant Churches in the Province of Vicenza, Veneto

  • Edmond Akwasi Agyeman
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/aahdh-8-2011pp105-116
Keywords: ghanaian migrants, Italy, churches, integration

Abstract

The number of Ghanaian immigrants’ Catholic and Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches has kept growing since this group began to settle in Italy from the late 1970s. This paper examines that role that these religious congregations play to facilitate the migrants’ integration in the province of Vicenza. The paper shows that while the churches offer opportunities for the migrants to find their place in Italian society by providing them a place to be at home, a sense of belonging, identity and resources, the type of integration that the migrants foment through the churches appears to be rather segmented along racial and ethnic lines. Therefore, the churches’ integration role would be enhanced if they open up their ethnic and racial borders and provide channels for Ghanaian and Italian populations to interact.

Published online: 11 December 2017

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Author Biography

Edmond Akwasi Agyeman
Edmond Akwasi Agyeman has a PhD in Contemporary International Migration from the University Institute for Migration Studies, Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid, Spain. He holds a Licentiate degree in Social Philosophy of Human Mobility and another Licentiate degree in Pastoral Theology of Human Mobility from the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI) in Rome, Italy.
Published
2017-12-11
How to Cite
Akwasi Agyeman, Edmond. 2017. “Religion, Race and Migrants’ Integration in Italy: The Case of Ghanaian Migrant Churches in the Province of Vicenza, Veneto”. Deusto Journal of Human Rights, no. 8 (December), 105-16. https://doi.org/10.18543/aahdh-8-2011pp105-116.
Issue
No. 8 (2011): Especial edition
Section
Articles
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