Inclusive togetherness. A comparative ethnography of cultural associations making Milan sociable

Winner of the “Osservando il Volontariato” award, this work addresses the practices and outcomes of ten non-profit associations who aim to produce inclusive forms of social relationships, improve public spaces and augment urban sociability in Milan. Although different in many respects, these associations share the same controversial urban project, using events as their main repertoire of action in order to affect the local public sphere and regenerate the neighbourhoods’ shrinking social fabric. Through a comparative ethnographic approach, the reader is immersed in the everyday practices of the various groups, from official meetings to backstage action, gaining an insight into different forms of inclusive togetherness, each of which with its own exclusionary implications. The research found that a limited number of group styles – recurrent patterns of interaction in everyday group life – account for the outcomes produced by the urban project under investigation. By emphasising the simultaneously situated and institutional nature of the studied group styles, this research intersects with and updates a sociological tradition of study that, by addressing micro-level interactions, provides key insights into significant macro-processes, such as the socially inclusive/exclusive outcomes of these types of urban projects.