Migrants’ Associations in Italy and the 2010 Migrants’ Strike

On 1st March 2010 a “Migrants’ Strike” took place in Italy as well as in other European countries. In Italy, its organisation relied on a wide network of migrants’ associations. Based on press analysis, participant observations and interviews, this paper focuses on the case study of the Italian Migrants’ Strike, aiming at exploring the political side of the migrants’ participation. After a short description of the event of the 1st March 2010 in Italy, the paper focuses on the migrants’ political and discursive opportunity structure. The analysis indicates that the 1st March event and more recent migrants’ strikes have several elements of similarity with other contemporary political movements. These elements are the search for effective political instruments other than the strike, the process of identity-building and the negotiation between different political cultures.