The Political Implications of Scientific Knowledge. EU Funded Policy Research and Immigration Policies in Italy

The work endeavours to assess the impact of EU funded research on both, social science policy research and the policy making process at national level. Attempts, in the past, to include the social sciences in the decision making process have raised questions about the validity of scientific knowledge, in terms of its objectivity, and in terms of its legitimizing element. The starting point of this investigation, therefore, is the relationship between research and policy making. Subsequently, it considers the development of social science research in the field of immigration. At EU level it analyses the changes in the dynamics of migration and how the EU research Framework Programmes have responded. At national level it seeks to place the concept of citizenship and nationality law within the tradition of the social sciences in Italy and to understand how social science research has contributed to the development of policies. The investigation also analyses the research policy approach at institutional level in Italy and the involvement of Italian universities and organizations in the FP6 and FP7 to determine if there takes place an internationalization/Europeanization of social science research on immigration and/or the construction of a ‘non-national discourse’. There is a formation of a discourse in the field of immigration research which follows the Commission directives but due to the Italian policy making process closed to academic and experts influence this discourse does not permeate the process of immigration policies making.