Practicing Solidarity: Migrant Reception Services in Salerno, Italy, in a Time of Crisis, Conflicts and Policy Contradictions

This article aims to discuss some results of the qualitative research we conducted in the province of Salerno, a large area of Southern Italy, during the summer of 2022. Our target group was a selected group of key informants - civil servants and operators of civil society organizations active in reception services for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Our analysis of emerging solidarity practices in this territorial area allows us to shed light on the paths through which the people working in migrant reception services adapt to the increasingly difficult conditions imposed by economic stagnation, an increasingly hostile political climate towards migrants, and the contradictions of Italian immigration policy. Keywords: international migration, Italy, migration policy, welfare, qualitative research