Post on 13-Sep-2020
The gender issue in migrant representation: a case study on Italian school textbooks and
online newspapersValentina Tudisca, Adriana Valente
CNR-IRPPS
Cagliari, June 6 2019Scuola democratica First International Conference
Imago migrantis project: studying representation of migrants in Italian textbooks and online newspapers
Research question: understanding to what extent and how migrant women are represented in Italian school textboooks and online newspapers
A tradition of studies at CNR-IRPPS since early 2000 (FP6 Biohead Citizen; Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée; Representation of migrants in Italian textbooks 2011)
• Feminist studies on female representation in media
• Migrant women risk to undergo double discrimination
Theoretical background
Premise:• The way women are represented in influential media can contribute
to reinforce or fight stereotypes, converting the patriarchal and gerarchic relationships to common sense
• Perception of migrants in Italy is strongly distorted
Methods
1) Defining the subject of analysis:A. selecting a sample of Geography and History textbooks used in Italiansecondary schools (38 volumes analysed)
B. selecting online newspapers and‘key-events’: 5 online newspapers analysed and 8 key-events in 2016
2) Developing ad hoc analysis grids, based on previous research
89 pictures representing people, predominantly male
Not representing reality
Results 1: underrepresentation of migrant women A) in Italian school textbooks
554 pictures representing migrants
Results 1: underrepresentation of migrant women B) in Italian online newspapers
13 111 0 0 0 2
29 27
76
95 100
67
92
58 63
235 0
33
6
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Distribution % of gender per event
Female Male Mixed
• traditionally represented together with children
• new positive element, compared to the previous analysis: at work within different contexts
Results 2: how migrant women are representedA) in Italian school textbooks
Examples of pictures from Italian school textbooks
Insights from the few pictures representing female migrants:
• individuals
• not only passive victims, but activeand asking for rights
• not only women with children
Results 2: how migrant women are representedB) in Italian newspapers
Examples of pictures from Italian newspapers
Conclusions
• registered a problem of underrepresentation of migrantwomen in Italian school textbooks and online newspapers, notconsistent with reality
• however, the way of representing migrant women seems beingevolving, including work dimension and in work contexts notonly related to care (in textbooks), and giving value to individuality and active role (in media)
Perspectives
• Within the textbooks analysis, widening the analysis to compare migrant women representation to native women representation in specific contexts
• Considering gender perspectives in Italian guidelines for school textbooks and newspapers
• Updating the textbooks and newspapers analysis in the nextyears to monitor possible changes in migrants and migrantwomen representation after/during this political period
References:• ‘Rappresentazione dei migranti nelle testate online europee’, di MG Caruso, L. Cerbara, A. Pelliccia, V. Tudisca, A. Valente e i
tirocinanti CNR-IRPPS V. Calcagno, V. Formentini, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, in ‘Imago migrantis: migranti alle porte dell’Europa nell’era dei media’, a cura di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia e A. Valente, Roma: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing, 2019;
• ‘Le migrazioni nei testi dei manuali italiani di storia e geografia’, A. Valente, V. Tudisca V. Calcagno, V. Formentini, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, S. Caravita, in ‘Imago migrantis: migranti alle porte dell’Europa nell’era dei media’, a cura di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia e A. Valente, Roma: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing, 2019;
• ‘La rappresentazione dei migranti nelle testate giornalistiche online europee: un’analisi pilota’, di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia, M. G. Caruso, L. Cerbara, A. Valente, in ‘Migrazioni e integrazioni nell’Italia di oggi’, a cura di Corrado Bonifazi, IRPPS Monografie, 2017;
• ‘Iconografia delle migrazioni nei libri di testo’, di A. Valente, V. Tudisca, V. Calcagno, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrazioni e integrazioni nell’Italia di oggi’, a cura di Corrado Bonifazi, IRPPS Monografie, 2017;
• ‘Le migrant dans les manuels italiens d’histoire et de géographie: l’impact des images, le rôle des styles, l’ambiguïté des valeurs’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, G. Vitali, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée’, a cura di B. Maurer, M. Verdelhan e A. Denimal, Parigi, L’Harmattan, 2016;
• ‘Le migrant dans les manuels italiens d’histoire et de géographie: le migrant, la femme, la mémoire’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, G. Vitali, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée’, a cura di B. Maurer, M. Verdelhan e A. Denimal, Parigi, L’Harmattan, 2016;
• ‘Rappresentazione dei migranti nei libri di testo italiani di storia e geografia’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, S. Caravita, in IRPPS Working Paper n. 59, 2014;
• ‘The role of textbooks in science education: a case study on human migrations’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, S. Caravita, in ‘Science Education and guidance in schools: the way forward’, a cura di A. Raschi, A. Di Fabio e L. Sebastiani, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2013.
Thank you for your attention!
AcknowledgementsWe thank the research teams of the projects Imago migrantis, Representation of migrants in Italian textbooks 2011, Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée, FP6 Biohead Citizen