Moral and Cultural Boundaries in Representations of Migrant Women in Italy

This article makes use of the concept of boundary-work (Lamont, 2002) to explore representations of migrant women. The research is based on 35 life-history interviews with Bulgarian and Hungarian migrant women resident in Italy, and on 18 semi-structured interviews with Italian women, conducted between 2001 and 2003. The analysis compares the distinctions made about migrant women by ‘native’ Italian women and by migrant women themselves, along the dimensions of ‘moral’ and ‘cultural’ boundaries. The article demonstrates the analytical purchase of boundary-work in disentangling the distinctions that underpin processes of inclusion and exclusion, and the construction of self and other. These findings have implications for debates on social and emotional well-being.