Mixed Methods for Mixed Places. International Immigration towards Non-Metropolitan Areas in Italy

This PhD dissertation presents a comprehensive exploration of international immigration towards non-metropolitan areas in Italy, including Small and Medium-sized Towns, rural and peripheral areas, and “micropolitan systems”. It is based on four interconnected articles addressing different aspects of the issue at stake and using different combination of methods. The dissertation is also completed by a general introduction, which provides an overview of the relevant literature on non-metropolitan localities, considering their definition, position in globalisation processes and general immigration patterns. As for single articles, the first paper focuses on immigration patterns in micropolitan systems adopting a functionalist approach and using quantitative methods, namely cluster and regression analyses. The second research employs a mixed methods sequential design combining cluster analysis and semi-structured interviews, and takes into account socio-economic incorporation policymaking within rural municipalities. The mobilisation of the immigration/development nexus in rural and peripheral areas is the topic of the third article, which explores this issue through a triangulation of document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Finally, a sequential mixed methods design is also developed in the last paper, in which the potential connection between localised experiences of diversity and the construction of a welcoming context at the local level is explored through semi-structured interviews and regression analysis. The research carried out through each paper, albeit from different entry points, aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on immigration and diversification processes outside metropoles, treating immigration as a structural phenomenon of non-metropolitan localities while considering the specificities and varieties of such places.