Lifes @the crossroad – Socio-anthropologic action research (Italy)

The socio-anthropologic action-research <em>Lives @ the Crossroad, </em>conducted by the young anthropologist Alice Vittoria and coordinated by Claudia Cancellotti, focuses on the life experience of a group of African asylum seekers residing in the Reception Centre of Bivio Montorgiali, a small and isolated village in the Province of Grosseto. The main objective of the action-research project is to contribute to breaking the isolation and the estrangement of these young men by giving them voice to talk in first person and tell their stories, experiences, emotions, idea, and ambitions. This makes of them unrepeatable and unique individuals, beyond any stigmatising or reductive category such as the one of migrant or asylum seeker, within their host community. The research is conducted by combining workshop collective sessions with thematic focus groups and individual interviews. The methodological approach is oriented toward cooperative and interactive learning strategies and uses different tools – such as brainstorming, visual and plastic arts, peer-to-peer sessions. At the end of the research, the results will be shared with the local community of Scansano Municipal Council in the framework of the intercultural festival <em>Migrandola</em>, promoted by the local association Macramé.