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To discuss, after the end of twentieth-century utopias, the possibility and meaning of the idea of "the alternative" within the social and political realm entails the necessity to understand opportunities and limits inherent in the structural and cultural conditions of the global society. This essay introduces three theoretical insights and proposes them as fundamental axes for the analysis of the problem. The contemporary society can be described as morphogenetic and without an outside in the process of undergoing radical transformations concerning its profound symbolic nature; such transformations can be noted through the category of axiality, which is tied to the distinction between immanence and transcendence. The thesis of this essay is that the abovementioned conceptual framework uncovers some paradoxes at the heart of the global society, most notably, its complex mixture of opening and closure. The framework also facilitates analyzing emerging phenomena within such a context and helps identifying those that can still be considered "alternatives." This enables escaping the unilateralism of the new grand narratives and thinking of other possible paths of development that are void of grandeur and alternative to the current, strong tendencies that lead to the ascent of illiberal democracies and liberal post-democracies, to a renewed absolutization of Realpolitik, and to the construction of a post-social future.

Le politiche sociali rivolte ai migranti in Europa costituiscono oggi un tema tanto cruciale, quanto sovraccarico di prescrittività e ambivalenze. Una tesi di fondo di questo capitolo, anzi, è che il senso stesso di tale "rivolgersi" non sia, in effetti, particolarmente chiaro. Forse ancor più rilevante – e altrettanto problematico – è lo specifico nesso tra politiche e intervento sociale.L'obiettivo non è, qui, svolgere un'analisi del complesso di norme che definiscono e regolano un settore o un ambito di policy, né presentare una rassegna di come siano disegnati – o di come empiricamente funzionino – i rapporti del complesso istituzionale italiano o di vari Paesi europei con le popolazioni immigrate. Chi intendesse affrontare un compito del genere dovrebbe tentare di ricostruire da entrambi i lati – quello delle popolazioni coinvolte e quello dei meccanismi e dei dispositivi delle politiche – il percorso e le modalità d'ingaggio tra i sistemi di welfare europei e una popolazione immigrata estremamente varia per provenienza, caratteristiche etniche, culturali, religiose, sociali, di età e di genere, percorsi di vita.

The principal questions addressed in this special issue concern a crucial dimension of the educational agenda for 21st century Western societies: in the complex, uncertain, rapidly changing world we live in, which character traits matter most? How are they related with the development of a cohesive society with better rates of employability and innovation, especially among young generations? And how are they best developed? Within this context, special attention must be devoted to citizenship: what are the skills and virtues required for young people to play their role as fully integrated citizens in the emergent European economic, political, social and cultural space? And how can character education improve their social and political participation? Therefore, the scholarly challenge to be met consists of developing the theory of character education and its relation with citizenship education within a sound conceptual frame. This involves integrating approaches, models, data and research methods concerning character traits and citizenship education in Europe.