Etnografia nelle aree interne italiane. Perimetri critici e categorie analitiche per la ricerca etnografica nelle aree rurali fragili

The article argues that ethnography can make a decisive contribution to various perspectives on the study, research, and understanding of the processes and changes affecting the Italian inner areas. Defining the critical perimeter of the category of “inner areas” allows for identifying how this category implies a tension between the general issue of Italy's inner areas and specific, area-related issues. Reviewing the main social science contributions on Italian inner areas is therefore necessary to identify the different theoretical and methodological perspectives with which ethnographies engage. From this perspective, field research contributes to the study of the ambivalent and interconnected processes affecting Italian inner areas through a processual, situated, and critical lens.