In a society characterized by the intermingling or many and a different cultures, two options are open to the policy-makers: multiculturalism, for which every culture is, to say, like an island segregated from the others cultures and commanding an exclusive identification on the part of its members; and interculturalism, which allows for more flexible and dynamic relations between cultures, each of them been so thought as an integral part of a wider and inclusive setting of common beliefs and values. In the framework of the intercultural politics the problem arises of the ways in which an effective network of relationships between cultures may be built in order to promote their integration, i.e. the problem of intercultural mediation. The essay deals with the role that the key figure (that of the intercultural mediator) should play in this process. He should possess a high degree of education and professionalism in order to operate according to effective universalistic standards and promote the integration of immigrants. This implies that his recruitment must be completely independent of any origin or ethno-cultural affiliation. To date, at the national level the figure of the mediator has not been regulated and the whole sector is mostly managed by social cooperatives, cultural associations or immigrants’ associations that offer their services to the institutions with positive effects, but also with inevitable negative implications.
