Gender and mobility in Europe: some reflections from three Italian cases

Gender is one of the dimensions where social and cultural differences between various national contexts are notably evident. In particular, non-egalitarian relationships, based on a patriarchal model, are still more present in less modernized contexts, such as Southern Europe. The increasing mobility within Europe coming along the process of unification, and the emergence of a European Collective Mental Space of Reference, through an intensification of material and symbolic exchange among the various countries and cultures, can stimulate reflexive processes of comparison and learning which can lead to significant transformations of identity. Mobility can represent a resource also for the (de-) re-construction of gender identity, activating a process of redefining traditional gender roles. In fact, encountering a context different from one's own encourages deep processes of reflective questioning about “who” one is or wishes to be. The specific aim of this contribution is to ascertain under which conditions biographical experiences lived through in contexts and relationships more sensitive to gender equality, may actually activate a process of reshaping gender identity. This contribution addresses the issue through the analysis of three biographical-narrative interviews collected in Italy as part of the Euroidentities Project. VII FP, EU.