«The policy mirror mechanism»: the case of Turin

Abstract

Different fieldwork conducted in the city of Turin shows that through the analysis of social services for immigrants one can see how general the dynamics of local policies are reflected. The main focus of the article is based on the supply-demand sides of social services for immigrants in the context partly of an increase in female immigration to the major cities in Italy, and partly of an arrangement of a progressive «welfare mix» in social services. The article is divided into two parts. In the first part local policy is analysed through the services available for immigrants in Turin, especially by considering the history and evolution of social services since the eighties. In the second part of the article the issue is illustrated through fieldwork examples pointing at some available strategies that migrant women apply in order to gain access to social services.