Abstract: | Danese analyses the reasons for the weakness of migrants' associations in Italy and Spain in comparison to the importance and power of other organizations operating in the field of immigration, such as trade unions, church-based or secular bodies. A method inspired by the basic concept of political opportunity structure, taking into account the contextual factors that shape collective organization, is proposed as the best one for looking at the specific situation in the new immigration countries of Southern Europe. Danese argues that the engagement of a complex field of actors in the representation of migrants' interests in Italy and Spain should not be considered occasional or temporary but historically rooted and a contributing factor to the development of a kind of separation-inclusion of migrants. |