Abstract

The dynamics of «familiarization» of migrations and the process of family reunification are becoming increasingly important in the European debate on the European Union policies about the entrances and the social integration of immigrants. Actually, family reunification is currently one of the main mode of regular entry in the Eu countries. This paper will analyze how the migrant family is socially and juridically constructed in the European and Italian discourse, in order to fully understand the effects of Eu policies on national legislation and, subsequently, on family structures. In doing so, I will try to fit into the sociological debate aimed at deepening policies that discipline the family reunification process, often watching these policies through a perspective centered on the processes of stratification that influence and redefine the intersection between the right of family unity and the social, class, status, nationality, gender and generation positions' of those who attempt to exercise this right.