Oriente OccidenteOriente Occidente Logo
Sep 08 2006 - 16:00

Palazzo della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto

Migration without Development

Anna Maria Gentili and Fabrizio Floris

Moderated by Gianmario Baldi, director of the civic library of Rovereto



Migration flows from the periphery to the city contribute to the exponential growth of urban populations, which experience a constant decline in their living conditions and are forced to seek what is necessary for survival in the absence of essential services.

Although economic indicators show an actual increase in per capita income, this growth is without development, harming both urban and rural populations. The involved African states remain trapped in the vicious cycle of debt contracted with economically stronger countries, a spiral from which African populations cannot free themselves, even with significant economic progress in recent years.

One possible response to this crisis is certainly to invest in the many young people who make up the majority of the African population and who can play a crucial role in rediscovering their place on the global artistic stage.

Anna Maria Gentili and Fabrizio Floris will discuss the causes, aspects, and potential solutions to the issue of this growth without development."**

Anna Maria Gentili is a professor of History and Institutions of Afro-Asian Countries at the University of Bologna and a member of the scientific committees of major journals specializing in African studies. She is one of the foremost scholars on historical and political-institutional issues in African countries. She has taught and conducted seminars at academic institutions in Italy, Europe, and Africa.

Fabrizio Floris holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Territorial and International Phenomena and teaches Economic Anthropology at the University of Turin. He has conducted research in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa, in refugee camps in Kenya, and among the Nuba in Sudan.