IL DENARO DELLO STRANIERO Le Pratiche Monetarie Bancarizzate dei Cittadini Immigrati

Abstract: this research proposes a critical approach to the study of money with a particular attention to immigrants' monetary practices focusing on the relationship between them and banks. In Italy there are 1,9 million of currents accounts that belong to immigrants. These data clearly place immigrants in a crucial position for the analysis of money in Italy. Furthermore, the figure of the stranger (Simmel 1908) is proposed as a valuable resource for the Italian credit system and, at the same time, as the bearer of new practices that belong to others’ money cultures. In fact, the peculiarities of the previous experience of the migrant, is not necessarily common to the Italians’ experience. The theories of practice provide concepts to explore the social life of money, which is not just a commodity or a currency, in the sense given by economics, but a more complex social object. Through 28 semi-structured interviews with employees of six Italian banks and 20 interviews with the members of two communities of immigrants, i.e. a Muslim community in Verona and a Moldovan community in Padua, the research describes the trajectories of economic socialization that involve both immigrant clients and the Italian banking system. The conclusions derived from the analysis illustrate the relevance of some analytical elements - share commitments, common knowledge, material supports, habits and routines - that support the conceptual turning point from money to monies.