Abstract

The challenging task of deciphering the cultural transformations produced by globalization processes has convinced many scholars - sociologists as well as anthropologists - to return to the interpretative category of cosmopolitan¬ism. The rediscovery of this category also regards youth studies: many recent analyses view cosmopolitanism as one of the traits of youth in global societies. With a similar approach, this article aims to use the notion of cosmopolitanism to explore the socio-cultural characteristics of a group of young men and women of foreign origin temporarily residing in Milan. By analyzing their narrations regarding their time-space experiences and life projects, the article aims to offer insight into the qualitative traits of this specific form of international geographical mobility, taking gender differences into account too. Extremely sensitive to social change, the young people in the study ultimately appear to embody the historical and social transformations under way in the contemporary period.