Intersectionality and the Education of Dis/abled Asylum-seeking and Refugee Children in Rome: Criticism and Discrepancies of “Integration-style Inclusion” Models

This thesis is about “race”, disability, and the education of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. Based on nine refugee services in the city of Rome, the study investigates the intersections of “race”, disability and migratory status in relation to the educational and social experiences of forced migrant children. Located within the interpretive paradigm, the methodological approach adopted in this qualitative study is constructivist grounded theory. Data collection involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 27 participants divided in two groups, the Professional participants (17), and the Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children participants (10). Drawing on the intersectional and interdisciplinary framework of Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) and on Judith Butler’s notions of subjectivation and performative politics, the study provides evidence of criticism and discrepancies within current models of refugee reception, and demonstrates how inclusion is conflated within ontologically different and exclusionary meanings of integration. The study suggests the urgency to reform educational and social reception policies and practices by adopting an intersectional stance to deal with multiply-marginalized children.