Inhabiting Liminal Spaces

Isabella Clough Marinaro is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at John Cabot University, Italy, where she teaches courses in sociology, urban studies, criminology, and social science research methods. She worked for many years on the political and social conditions of Roma communities in Italy and the policy processes affecting them. Her current research focuses on urban development and governance in Rome, particularly in their interconnections with changing forms of illegal and informal practices. She is the co-editor of Italian Mafias Today: Territory, Business and Politics and Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City.

• Introduction: Rome: The Informal City. 1. Tracing Informalities Across Scales and Fields. 2. Residing in Liminality: Housing Informalities and the Public Sector. 3. Liminality on the Street: The Shifting Rules of (In)formal Vending. 4. Informal Lending: The Challenges of Financial Liminality. 5. Garbage: Managing Liminal Matter through Multi-layered Informalities. 6. When in Rome: Mapping Romans’ Attitudes and Understandings of Informal Practices. Conclusion.

"This book is a rare and successful blend of ethnographic thickness and conceptual depth. The fascinating case study of economy and governance in the city of Rome is elevated to a more general discussion of informality and liminality in the economic, political and cultural fields that will be of interest to scholars across a wide range of fields, including sociology, urban studies, economic and political anthropology and Italian studies." Bjørn Thomassen, Roskilde University, Denmark