{"word_count": 238, "character_count": 1642}
Tommaso  Vitale (2019): Palaver 8(1), pp. 29-74Abstract. The aim of this paper is to  investigate conflicts against Roma settlements by considering not only  the decision-making processes and relations of force, but also the  complex dynamics of the attempts to define the assets  that are the object of conflict wherein rules and authorities are both  acknowledged and criticised. The main topic is related to the  sociological debate on the normative polarisation concept, and this  paper suggests an analytical method for defining normative  polarisation that considers the state's active role in promoting the  racial exclusion of Roma. Evidence for this study originates from ten  fieldwork case studies in Italy. We will analyse two cases (Rome and  Milan) in which conflicts led to the disintegration  of social ties and the polarisation of normative positions; a  compromise has not been reached because these conflicts have not  contributed in any way to mediating institutions. Case studies in small  Italian cities will be subsequently introduced. In these  cases, institutional mediation played a role in their respective  conflicts' dynamics by linking the actors and involving them in  regulation issues concerning resource allocation and coordination for  delivering collective goods. The main theoretical results  focus on the central role that groupings of objects, rules, and  conventions play with both a performative power as law and public policy  instrumentation within these conflicts' dynamics.”Keywords: Sociology of the State; Ethnic Conflicts; Roma; Mediation; Polarisation; ExclusionLink to th review Download link