CITYSPACE, BELONGING, AND URBAN MOVEMENTS: A PLACE-BASED COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLLECTIVE ACTION IN NORTHERN ITALY

What transforms scattered community organizations into cohesive urban movements? This study of two northern Italian neighborhoods, San Siro in Milan and Veronetta in Verona, reveals that the ability to engage with a neighborhood's distinctive identity either catalyzes or constrains collective action. Both areas are marginalized spaces associated with urban decay, yet host an intense presence of diverse civil society groups. Despite similar demographic, urbanistic, and social attributes, Veronetta features a cohesive grassroots movement organically connected to the neighborhood, while San Siro exhibits fragmented social actors and uncoordinated efforts. Employing the analytical categories of “identity of place” and “placebased identity,” this research undertakes multisited ethnography to compare the sociospatial dynamics of urban movements. It argues that the identity of place and social ties enabled by it are sources of collective identity guiding collective action. For actors operating in peripheral urban settings, the ability to tap into the identity of place and to integrate place-based belongings lead to the creation of a movement space, while failure to do so results in sporadic interventions.