Diasporas, Voting and Linguistic Justice: A Study of Second- and Third-Generation Italo-Australians(IMISCOE Research Series)

This open access book analyses the relationship between language proficiency and political participation from abroad among Italians living in Australia, focusing specifically on second- and third-generation Italians. It evaluates how confident second- and third-generation Italians in Australia are in understanding and participating in Italian political debates from abroad. The book also assesses how effective Italy's language policies are in providing Italians in Australia with the language skills necessary to understand and participate in those debates and be informed voters. Furthermore, it advances more general policy proposals to improve language proficiency and political participation among transnational communities abroad. By providing a solid empirical analysis based on mixed methods combining survey data and semi-structured in-depth interviews, informed by a rigorous theoretical framework, this book is a great resource for students and academics working on migration studies, transnational politics, and linguistic justice as well as for policymakers and other key stakeholders concerned with the promotion of homeland languages among citizens living abroad.

About the Author :
Matteo Bonotti completed his PhD in Politics at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Monash University, Australia, having previously taught at Cardiff University, Queen's University Belfast, and the University of Edinburgh. Matteo's research interests include linguistic justice, migration, political parties, political finance, democratic theory, political liberalism, free speech, and food justice. He is the author of Partisanship and Political Liberalism in Diverse Societies (OUP, 2017) and the co-author of Healthy Eating Politics and Political Philosophy: A Public Reason Approach (OUP, 2022), and Money, Parties, and Democracy: Political Finance between Fat Cats and Big Government (OUP, 2025). Chiara De Lazzari completed her PhD in Politics at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. She is an affiliated researcher at Monash University. She previously worked as a Lecturer and Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, and at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests include migration studies, citizenship rights, political participation of diasporas, and political participation of migrant youth. She is the author of Transnational Politics, Citizenship and Elections (Routledge, 2020). Narelle Miragliotta completed her PhD in Politics at the University of Western Australia. She is currently based in the Politics and International Relations section at Murdoch University, and previously at Monash University. Narelle's research interests include voting, elections, parties, and constitutional politics.