Messa in strada. Note etnografiche sull’occupazione dello spazio attraverso la religione tra gli srilankesi alla Sanità (Napoli)

This article aims at analyzing the complex processes and social dynamics stemming from the looking for a space to pray by Sri Lankan Catholics during the long period of Covid-19 pan demic. The focus will be on the social meanings of occupying a piece of public street in the grassroots neighborhood of Sanità, in the hearth of Naples’ historical center. Sanità is a space managed by different power with strong forms of self-organization that rule things without recurring to a formal/legal mediation, creating an urban life so unusual in the European cities. Starting from showing off how this direct mediation works, the article will dialogue with the social science debate regarding how migrant religious groups move within the framework of “local rules” in the use of social space that is also a practice of group affirmation, claiming for the right to the city and negotiating within power relationships.