Bridging the Divide: the Gap between the Study of Internal and International Migration, with an Example from Italy

Russell King Willy Brandt Guest Professor of Migration

Studies, Malmö University, 2012-13

MIM Research Seminar 7 4 March 2013

Structure of Seminar

• Introduction: two migration traditions and literatures • Linking and sequencing internal and international

migration – Internal leading to international migration – International leading to internal migration – Adding return migration – Factors differentiating internal from international

migrants • Integrating internal and international migration

theory – Systems – Integration – Migration and development

• Italy as a case-study – Patterns of postwar labour migration – Recent graduate migration

• Conclusion

1

Introduction

Two ‘migration traditions’: internal and international • different data sources, theoretical and analytical /

methodological approaches, research and policy agendas etc.

• international migration is currently dominant in the ‘migration studies’ field; there is often an assumption that ‘migration’ means international migration

• numbers: need to appreciate that this is also an ‘age of internal migration’ (740 m. internal migrants globally vs. 214 m. international)

• in practice, the distinction between the two becomes blurred; for instance – intra-EU migration: both internal and

international – boundary changes can either turn internal into

international migrants (e.g. break-up of Yugoslavia) or international into internal migrants (e.g. German unification)

2

Linking and Sequencing: A Model

3

Linking and Sequencing: Internal → International

• widely regarded as the most ‘logical’ sequence: a

form of ‘step migration’, internal migration to cities serves as a ‘springboard’ for emigration (evidence from many countries, e.g. Mexico and Turkey)

• ‘Sassen thesis’ (1988): penetration of global capital into LDCs stimulates internal migration to export processing zones, followed by emigration abroad when factories close down or workers are laid off

If we de-couple migration trajectories from the individual/family scale (so it is not the same migrants who are moving but different cohorts), other sequences arise, e.g.:

• ‘South European migration model’ (King et al. 1997) whereby internal migration (rural-urban, inter-regional) becomes ‘exhausted’ and is followed by immigration from abroad, so that immigrants replace internal migrants in low-skill job sectors.

4

Linking and Sequencing: International → Internal

• less often studied than the reverse sequence, except by some US and UK geographers, who link it to urban/regional population change

• concentration or dispersal? Dispersed refugees may concentrate; labour migrants may disperse; evidence is mixed and complex. In UK, Indians more spatially mobile than Caribbeans: link to social mobility, especially from 1st to 2nd generation. Depends also on scale of the analysis: e.g. suburbanisation vs. inter-regional migration.

• do international migrants/ethnic minorities migrate internally at the same rate and patterns as ‘native’ populations?

If we again de-couple individual from cohort migration trajectories, various ‘knock on’ effects are observable: • arrival of international migrants triggers (or follows)

internal outmovement of ‘natives’ in a destination country: ‘white flight’

• in a sending country, large-scale emigration causes internal ‘replacement’ migration

5

Linking and Sequencing: Adding Return Migration

6

Linking and Sequencing: Differentiating Factors

Evidence mainly from Mexico/US, but complicated by fact

that many international migrants are former internal migrants

• international migrants are more likely to be male, over 18 (US employment laws against child labour), wage-sensitive, investment-oriented (related also to investment opportunities in hometowns), from less-poor families, and with more years of education.

• internal migrants are more equally divided M/F, broader in age range, more geared to risk-aversion and household survival, and more likely to come from poor families and poor municipalities

• migration to border towns has generally intermediate features between internal and international migrants, but also combines both

• not all studies are consistent: e.g. Stark and Taylor (1991) find internal migrants have more education than international, because of greater capacity to capitalise on qualifications

7

Steps in Integrating Internal and International Migration

Theory • Brinley Thomas (1954) and North Atlantic economy:

when Britain boomed, internal migration dominated; when Britain slumped, emigration to America took over

• Zelinsky’s (1971) ‘hypothesis of the mobility transition’ combined internal migration, and other mobility forms into a single five-stage model

• Pryor’s (1981) call for integrating internal into

international migration theories, focusing on systems analysis, a behavioural approach, interdisciplinarity, and based on concrete historical and geographical comparisons. More like a road map.

• Skeldon (1997, 2006) and King and Skeldon (2010) make

further progress in systematising the internal/international migration integration of theory

• Vullnetari’s DPhil thesis (2008; book 2012) on the

Albanian case – first book-length study of the interface between the two migration types.

8

Zelinsky’s Mobility Transition Model

1. Pre-modern traditional society: little migration; limited local circulation linked to agriculture, marriage etc.

2. Early transitional society: mass rural-urban migration; emigration to colonies and other available destinations (settlement and labour migration); internal circulation starts

3. Late transitional society: rural-urban migration continues but declines; likewise emigration; increases in scale and complexity of internal circulation

4. Advanced society: rural-urban migration fades; inter- and intra-urban migration dominate; immigration of low-skilled; international circulation of highly skilled; vigorous internal circulation, linked to both economic and leisure rationales

5. Future super-advanced society: better delivery and communication systems reduce the need for personal mobility; internal migration continues as inter- and intra-urban; new forms of circulation; immigration continues but subject to absolute and selectivity controls

9

Integrating Theory: Systems Approach

• Wide reference to ‘migration systems’ in the literature (global migration system, European migration system, village migration system etc.), but rarely exemplified in systematic empirical research

• Foundational study was Mabogunje’s paper ‘Systems approach to a theory of rural-urban migration’, Geographical Analysis 1970, which looked at village to city movements in Nigeria

• Attraction of the approach: it is multi-dimensional with links, flows and structures, and dynamic, adjusting to circumstances and shocks. Mabogunje’s model had five elements:

– surrounding environment of the migration system (economy, society/culture, government policy, transport and technology)

– the migrant, the ‘energy’ moving through the system in response to pushes, pulls, controls etc.

– control subsystems, which calibrate the flows of the migrants

– adjustment mechanisms, to react to the departure or arrival of migrants

– feedback loops, positive (more migration) or negative (less migration)

• Has been only limited application of this model (or variants)

to international migration. Most obvious link is to chain migration and to social networks

10

Integrating Theory: Integration of Migrants

• Whereas systems approaches originate in the study of internal migration and have the potential to be applied to international migration, with the field of integration studies the potential theoretical transfer is the reverse.

• What does the study of ‘integration’ (aka assimilation, acculturation, incorporation, inclusion) of international migrants offer to the study of internal, especially rural-to-urban migrants?

• I would argue that, although the geographical, ethnic, cultural and linguistic ‘distances’ may be less (but not always they are), the general principle and frameworks used by integration scholars apply to internal migrants, especially in developing countries where rural-urban socio-economic contrasts are still great. Hence we see the relevance of:

– ‘spheres’ of integration: economic, political, social, cultural, spatial/residential, etc.

– differentiation between structural integration (education, labour market, housing etc.) and socio-cultural integration (social networks, intermarriage, identity etc.)

11

Integrating Theory: Development

• Migration and Development: most existing debate on this nexus assumes international migration is the key variable interacting with (under)development, despite internal migration being bigger in LDCs. – can a Zelinsky-type model be designed for LDCs

linking internal, international migration and (under)development at micro, meso and macro scales?

– comparative studies of the costs of internal vs. international migration, and returns (financial and social remittances)

– comparative studies of return migration propensities: are internal migrants more, or less, likely to return than international, and what does this mean for spatial development?

– does the diaspora and ‘hometown’ literature have a potential parallel in the way that rural-urban migrants are agents of development for their villages?

12

Some Evidence from Italy

I now pick up selected research questions from the earlier discussion on the internal/international migration interface, particularly the comparative dimension: • What factors differentiate internal from international

migration? • Are the motivations and conditions of the two

migrations different? • Are there differences in socio-demographics, class

background and psychological make-up between the two streams of migrants?

I try to provide some answers to these questions by focusing on the case of Italian migration, and draw on a recent Sussex PhD thesis I supervised and helped shape the research design of: • Francesca Conti: Leaving or Staying – An Analysis of

Italian Graduates’ Migratory Patterns, University of Sussex, PhD thesis in Sociology, 2012.

13

Overview of Italian Migration

• One of the great emigration countries of Europe and the world: 26 million emigrated 1871-1971, arguably more migrants and to a greater variety of countries worldwide than any other country (cf. Donna Gabaccia: Italy’s Many Diasporas, UCL Press 2000)

• Currently there are 5 million Italian nationals living abroad, exactly equal to the 5 million immigrants living in Italy

Main historical phases and types: • The ‘Great Migration’ 1880s to 1920s to the Americas (USA,

Argentina, Brazil); mainly South Italians to USA • Postwar labour migration 1950s to early 1970s, mainly to

Europe (France, Germany, Switzerland) but also to USA, Canada, Australia; mainly from rural Southern Italy

• At the same time, mass internal migration 1950s and 1960s, South to North, again from poor rural areas to industrial cities (Milan, Turin) and Rome

• New migration post-1990s, more highly qualified: two streams – Italy to abroad, and South to North within Italy

14

Italian Graduate Migration: Research Questions and

Methods Broad concern in Italy with high graduate unemployment and ‘brain drain’, especially in the South 1. Why do (so many) Italian graduates emigrate (to the UK)? 2. What is the difference, if any, in terms of motivations and

characteristics, between graduates who migrate internally (South to North) and those who migrate to UK?

3. Why do some graduates choose to stay in their home town?

Semi-structured interviews (84) in London/Brighton, Milan, Rome and Palermo. Three subsamples, each gender-balanced, all aged mid-20s to late-30s 38 international migrants in UK, from all parts of Italy 24 internal migrants in Milan (12) and Rome (12) 22 non-movers in Milan (7), Rome (8) and Palermo (7) Accessed through personal networks, snowballing and Facebook groups (e.g. ‘Sicilians in Milan’, ‘Italians in London’)

15

Italian Graduate Emigration to UK

Three sets of narrative themes regarding motivations: 1. economic factors and career aspirations: Italy is a

‘difficult country’ 2. non-economic personal motivations: a journey of

self-discovery 3. cultural and ethical themes: the Italian mentalità Generally used in combination, with differential ranking and emphasis. Other common traits: • didn’t see themselves as emigrants (emigranti);

instead talked about ‘leaving Italy’ and ‘going abroad’ (emigranti are ‘poor’ and ‘desperate’)

• many respondents had prior experience of living or studying abroad, most commonly as Erasmus students or at language schools

• preference for UK expressed in terms of going to a more ‘globalised’ or ‘advanced’ country economically and socially; plus desire to improve English, and experience a different lifestyle

16

The ‘Erasmus effect’

Two typical quotes: • Once you do an experience such as Erasmus, it’s very

hard to get back to your previous life. It is an experience that changes you, changes your priorities in life. It changes your perceptions of the things that before you thought were unattainable… and then you realised are easily accessible for many people (Guido, M30)

• After the Erasmus I was no longer the same person… I was no longer interested in hanging out with the gang of friends from my first years of university. I would say hello, and that was it, I would look for other kinds of people… who had something in common with me (Franca, F32)

So, Erasmus makes them ‘different’, makes them realise how ‘provincial’ and ‘bourgeois’ their peers in Italy are; and also how disorganised and under-resourced the Italian university system is.

17

1. Professional Reasons: ‘Italy is a difficult country’

• Two out of the three interviewees specified professional/career reasons as the main reason for moving to the UK

• Negative work experiences and high unemployment in Italy key push factor

• More rapid advancement, promotion and pay increases in UK, where there is more meritocracy

• Opportunities in types of graduate careers (finance, marketing, media) that either don’t exist or are impossible to enter as young graduates in Italy

• Work in a job and in a place with a global perspective, and a cosmopolitan workforce, contrasted with restricted market in Italy

• Specific subsample of ‘academic’ migrants who came to do postgraduate degrees and then stayed on, as an ‘escape’ from a hierarchical, closed and ‘corrupt’ academic system in Italy

• Narratives are similar for all parts of Italy (but more move from the North?)

18

Professional Reasons: Interview Quotes

• The UK has offered me things which I would never have had in Italy. What I adore about this country is that they judge you for what you can do… in my case, I would never have managed to get to the same position in Italy (Luca, M36)

• Working in the UK enables me to have a global perspective. If you work in Italy, it’s only for the Italian market; if you work in England, because of the professional networks that they have, or because English is the global language, you can aspire to work on projects with a wider scope… and they allow you to grow professionally faster than Italy… Apart from saying that work in Italy is not meritocratic, which is true (Ferdinando, M30)

• My university in Italy was quite good for my field; however there were a lot of things that I didn’t like… This mega-hierarchy, in which… you have to worship the professor… I could not see myself there, I needed a break… and I wanted to do my own project of research the way I wanted; but there, if you work under a professor, you have to do whatever they want you to do (Viola, F28)

19

2. Personal Motivations: a journey of self-discovery

• Reflects recent research on personal, life-stage and life-style (i.e. non-economic) factors in many people’s migration decisions (cf. Favell 2008 on ‘Eurostars’; Recchi and Favell 2009 on ‘pioneers’ of European integration)

• Migration to another country represents a rite of passage leading to ‘full adulthood’, independence and self-realisation

• Travelling and moving to another country seen as a journey of discovery but also of self-discovery, of ‘testing oneself’

• Related to wider phenomenon of individualisation (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2000): people building their own independent biographies rather than following predetermined patterns shaped by family, class and education

• However, we need to appreciate that the freedom to be mobile is not available to everyone, but access to mobility is itself, in this late-modern age, an aspect of social class differentiation.

20

Personal Motivations: Interview Quotes

• The idea was to have a bit of adventure, of testing oneself; to go abroad, to have a bit of experience… and from that point I never looked back (Luca, M36)

• It was absolutely my choice, I wanted a different experience… I wanted a challenge (said in English). It is very sad this mentality of staying at home, where you can have an easy life… I always tried to fight this attitude of my parents… because you must do something on your own… I always thought that having an experience abroad brings a certain character-building (English) and I always thought that if you don’t do anything on your own, what are you going to teach your children in the future? (Riccardo, M30)

• I liked the idea of getting to know people from all over the world and the fact that I was far from home, from my family… Another reason why I moved here is because in the UK people do more flat-sharing (English) compared to Italy, and I did not want to live with my parents until I was 40 (Manuela, F28)

21

3. Cultural and Ethical Reasons: ‘Mentalità’

• Many interviewees made strong general criticism of Italy as a country and of Italians: a kind of ‘inverted patriotism’ or ‘disidentification’ with Italy

• Perception of Italy as a country of moral and cultural decay, especially the political class

• Lack of meritocracy: irregularities in the recruitment process of many professions made respondents frustrated and disillusioned

• General scepticism over what Italy offers the younger generations, especially younger graduates whose parents have invested in their education; pessimism over whether changes will occur in the future

• Widespread use of the term mentalità, which has multi-layered and multi-scale meanings

– the ‘national character’ of Italy (a gerontocracy, built on hierarchies, excessive bureaucracy)

– the ‘provincial mentality’ of all towns and cities – the ‘mentality’ of their families who ‘expected’ them to stay

close, get married, have children etc.

22

Cultural and Ethical Reasons: Interview Quotes

• I think that for Italy this is a very sad period… despite who is going to win the next election… it is still a miserable time for Italy. I see my friends who have stayed there: for sure, they eat very well, they dress well, but they live a life which, in my opinion, is 50 or 100 years old, backward. They all live at home with their parents… There is a psychological condition which is very miserable at the moment (Marco, M30)

• There is a socio-political situation that I don’t like… In my opinion, Italy is an old society which is folded in on itself… there is no investment in young people, and you can see this from the policies, from what happens when you look for a job… It’s like they do you a favour in giving you a job (Arianna, F26)

• The argument is not only about getting a job, it is about realising your own life; because in my case I was working and having a ‘good life’ [in Italy], but I did not feel at ease with anyone, I disagreed with everything and everybody. I disagreed with the local values, with the mentalità… At some point, I couldn’t take it anymore. It was OK to have a good life but in fact it was not a good life – I was not happy there (Andrea, M35)

23

Internal Graduate Migration: South to North

• Internal migration overlooked since il grande esodo of the 1950s and 1960s – which was actually a double exodus, rural-urban and South-North

• Now coming back into public and academic attention: ISTAT estimate 700,000 left the South 1997-2008, a quarter of whom were graduates

• Differentiation of destination: Rome for public sector jobs, Milan for private sector. Rome viewed as a beautiful city but also a ‘southern’ city in many respects, Milan as the archetypal ‘Eurocity’ or the ‘Italian New York’

Three sets of narrative themes frame internal migrants’ accounts: 1. ‘Culture of migration’ in the South: history of

migration, migration is the norm 2. Getting a job is the overwhelming reason to move:

stifled by ‘closed’ Southern labour market and the practice of raccomandazione

3. Notion of South-North movement as ‘forced’ migration, and the emotional costs of this

24

1. ‘Culture of Migration’ from South

• Awareness of South’s long history of people leaving, both for emigration abroad and internal migration; most people have ancestors and current family members who have out-migrated, often to a variety of destinations.

• This notion of out-migration being the norm extends to university students and graduates, so there is a kind of peer-pressure to go; especially for male graduates who have a more clearly-defined ‘breadwinner’ role

• Long tradition of moving to Rome for civil-service jobs, and to Milan for private sector – across a wide range of employment fields. Rome seen as having some of the disadvantages of the South – corruption, bureaucracy etc., but it is where a lot of public sector concorsi (recruitment exams) are held

• Notion of Milan as a ‘stepping-stone’ to something even better somewhere else. Hence it can be seen theoretically as an ‘escalator’ city/region (cf. Fielding 1992 on London and the South-East as the UK’s ‘escalator region’)

25

Culture of Migration: Interview Quotes

• In my course 30 people graduated, and of these 30 perhaps only three stayed in Calabria afterwards… During my first year as a student I was sharing a flat with five engineers who are all working elsewhere now… for everyone it’s the same (Silvio, M37, from Cosenza to Rome)

• Rome has many positive and negative sides… It’s a beautiful city to live in but also it is a very particular place… I didn’t find many differences from my previous working environment… like the traffic, the expensive rent (Michaela, F30, from Salerno to Rome)

• Rome is much less dynamic; there is nothing one can do about that. It is an obvious thing to say but the fact that Milan is closer to Europe… makes it more international. Once somebody told me that Milan was like a little Italian ‘New York’… and it is a bit like that… it is a city where one does not go in order to settle down but to do some temporary experience and then you can see… you can come, find the man of your life and stay, or go back, or go abroad… it is a good starting point (Alessia, F33, from Rome to Milan)

26

2. Getting a Job: the role of raccomandazione

• The main motive for the majority of internal migrants is getting a job: two out of three respondents, and three out of four males, stressed this as the main reason

• Extensive reference made to the lack of graduate-level work in the South, and to poor conditions, poor prospects and low rates of pay for those who do manage to access local employment (graduate unemployment in South of Italy is around 40%)

• Historically the problem of getting work in the South, low incomes etc., is related to the long-standing backwardness of the South (the Mezzogiorno) – known as the ’Southern Question’ (la Questione Meridionale) on which there is a vast historical, philosophical and socio-economic literature

• Problems associated with the practice of raccomandazione as the ‘only way’ to get a job in Southern Italy. This was a very dominant theme in the narratives

27

Getting a Job: Interview Quotes

• One moves for a job, for work, that’s all. You move to where you find a job… When you are looking for a job in the South, you immediately realise that there is hardly any work here, and that in order to make a living you have to move elsewhere, it’s sad but that’s how it is (Tiziano, M28, Bari to Rome)

• The working environment in the South is de-qualifying. For me [she worked in the South for a time] it was a devastating experience, I felt I nearly had to thank my employers for giving me a job for 300 euros per month! To tell the truth, I think employers in the South really take advantage of people… they take advantage of the hunger that there is for jobs, especially among graduates.

[…] The problem is not the mafia but the raccomandazione… You really need to be connected to somebody in the South… because if you have connections… at least you have a chance… The little work there is, gets hijacked in this way… there are five jobs available and those five are already allocated, it is like that (Angela, F30, Cosenza to Rome)

• There is no meritocracy. The candidate who gets the job is always the one connected to this or that person… and this makes me angry… It’s like going against a wall (Piera, F27, Cosenza to Rome)

28

3. South to North: Forced Migration?

• Generally fatalistically expressed view of migration to North of Italy (unlike emigration to UK which is more enthusiastically expressed)

– This reflects above-mentioned factors: the lack of jobs and career opportunities in the South, the clientelistic relations involved, and the ‘culture of migration’ which again represents a fatalistic interpretation of the history of the South

– Certain types of careers – especially in the private sector (business services, finance, media, IT, marketing/advertising etc.) – are hardly available in the South, so graduates interested in these fields have to move North

• Move can often only take place with the support of family resources, at least initially

• Notion of internal movers not moving ‘too far’ from their families, especially parents. Obligation towards parents keenly felt by many, both males and females

• Females move North to follow their boyfriends/partners; no male interviewees mentioned this motive (i.e. of following girlfriends, fiancées)

29

Forced Migration? Interview Quotes

• One leaves out of necessity. Of course, you do it, because you have no choice… But I always think about what I have given up by moving here to Rome; I think about my loved ones back home, about the fact that, while you are away, your parents get old and that you are not there… I think a lot about these things (Silvio, M37, Cosenza to Rome)

• I am one of the few who could afford to go back to Sicily if I wanted to. My father has a business and I could go back and work with him and live well. But I believe that one should do the job one likes… because of the importance of work… So I decided to follow my passion and move here to Milan (Valerio, M28, Palermo to Milan)

• I was primarily looking for jobs in Rome, but I sent a few CVs to Milan, since my fiancé is from Milan… If I wasn’t in a relationship with him, I would never have looked for jobs outside of Rome (Linda, F28, Rome to Milan)

30

The Non-Movers: Reasons for Staying

Following were the main rationalisations not to move: 1. Some had tried and ‘failed’; or they saw language as

a barrier to going abroad 2. Professional satisfaction achieved where they are –

though they acknowledge the role of ‘connections’ in this

3. Attachments to ‘place’, family, boyfriends/partners etc.

In other words, most non-movers had accumulated too many local attachments and advantages – ‘ties’ or ‘moorings’ – to consider leaving. Essentially, reasons to ‘stay put’ fall into two groups: barriers to moving, and the advantages of not-moving. However, it must be remembered that, just as those who have moved may ‘return to base’ and then stay put, so those who are currently immobile may become migrants in the future. Hence, it can be suggested that the current ‘stayers’ are not necessarily intrinsically different from the other two groups.

31

1. Barriers to Migration: Quotes

• Well, in fact, yes [I did consider leaving Palermo], for my studies. I tried for a few months when I was 19 to live in Viterbo [a town in Central Italy] in order to follow a specialised course in art restoration. I started university there but I did not manage to integrate well. I felt homesick and after six months I decided to move back (Lorenza, F31, Palermo)

• The differences are simple: those who are immobile, it’s because they don’t speak any foreign languages (Roberto, M26, Rome)

• Being in the same place helps because you need to cultivate good relationships with people at work. You can leave temporarily to gain some international experience, to do a Master’s, maybe for a year, something like that, but you need to maintain those relationships… What I believe, very subjectively, is that Italy is a very old country – employers tend to want to see in their employees what they have done themselves… they don’t see any value in new approaches… They tend to think: ‘why do you want to go abroad? I became a professor without going abroad, what’s the problem?’ (Maria, F31, Milan)

32

2. Professional Satisfaction ‘At Home’: Quotes

• I am here and I am very lucky, I make €1500 per month… Many people leave because they don’t even make €1500 a year… I had a chance to participate in a concorso for a researcher post at my university. My supervisor was a member of the internal commission and he told me to apply. I studied a lot and I got the job… I was very anxious about the exam because I know very well that, as another professor wisely used to say, we are a generation that will only get one opportunity […] In my case, my only regret is that I never invested in any alternative somewhere else… I invested everything in my job here. I consider myself… a fortunate case, the exception to the rule, with my €1500 a month. I know that there are many people with a better CV than mine who cannot get a job (Marco, M30, Palermo)

• Here in Rome… if I want to do an internship, I would try to get to know someone who had done it before… but if you move somewhere else, who do you ask? It is the network of conoscenze (friends, acquaintances) that you have here that helps (Daniela, F28, Rome)

• I thought many times about going away… But I realise now that I tend to think in this way when I am upset… At present, for example, since I started to work again, I don’t feel the need to leave, because here in Palermo I have my family, my friends, this is my city (Cristina, F31, Palermo)

33

3. Attachments to Place, Family and Friends: Quotes

• It’s a matter of personal identity: I am Sicilian first, and then Italian… for historical reasons the Sicilians that you meet are 90% the sons of other Sicilians… Here in Sicily, we make a distinction between siciliani di scoglio and siciliani di mare [literally, sea-rock Sicilians and sea Sicilians]: the former are those who stick to their homeland even if they are looking towards the sea, and the latter are those who take the sea and leave (Mario, M32, Palermo)

• The benefit of being at home is to be safe, both economically and emotionally… when you are at home with you parents you are protected from anything that can happen to you (Claudia, F28, Rome)

• I feel the responsibility of staying here because of my parents… My brother is already abroad… so my parents think that caring for them is more of a female duty… it is a matter of mentality; my family is like this (Ilaria, F28, Rome)

• As I am in a relationship here, I also think what my boyfriend would find in another place, and considering I spent a lot of time building this relationship, I try to carry it on (Daniela, F28, Rome)

• … it would have bothered me a lot not to be able to carry on many relationships with my friends… It is not only what you build personally, it is also what you build outside working hours that matters. For example, I have always played in a basketball team, not professionally, but I enjoy it, and I wouldn’t want to leave that… (Giovanni, M28, Milan)

34

Concluding Points – 1

• Very few studies have compared the motivations and characteristics of international vs. internal migrants in a developed-country context. Most of the few existing studies which do this do so in developing countries such as Mexico, Morocco and the Philippines

• Focus on graduates as migrants brings in literature/theory on student migration, brain drain, and high-skilled migration

• This study highlights the role both of economic factors (above all the search for decent employment) but also non-economic factors such as the Italian mentalità as a ‘push’ factor, personal development and self-realisation in the UK as ‘pull’ factors, and the emotional ties to family and ‘place’ as ‘mooring’ factors for non-migration

• Reveals the importance of structural factors that condition the whole system: – difficult and prolonged transition from HE to the labour

market in Italy – underdeveloped nature of Italian graduate labour market,

especially in the South – the blocking and filtering role of clientelistic practices,

notably raccomandazione • Gender roles apparent, especially amongst those who stay in

Italy, either as non-movers or internal migrants. Females talk much more about ‘duties’ to their parents, and about investing in relationships with boyfriends

35

Concluding Points – 2 What are the key differences between international or internal movers? • Those who were abroad express more subjective and agentic

motivations – they talk about lifestyles, self-realisations etc., and they see themselves as ‘outliers’, and ‘atypical’ Italians who ‘disidentify’ with Italy and Italians because of the mentalità.

• Scale and depth of ‘rejection’ of Italy is remarkable, but this is a complex, double or even triple dynamic: disaffection is what drives emigration is the first place; this is then used to justify and rationalise the decision to move as the ‘right’ one; and the experience of living in the more meritocratic and open society of the UK makes them even more critical of the failings of Italian society, economy, politics etc.

• For international migrants, prior mobility experiences are more important – ‘mobility capital’

• International migrants have negative views of Italy as a whole; internal migrants mainly of the South. Out-migration from the South continues the long-unresolved ‘Southern Question’

• Internal migrants more pragmatically driven: need to get a job, partially a ‘forced migration’. No internal migrants saw their move as a step towards international migration. Hence, we can suggest that the two groups of migrants have two independent decision-making mindsets

• Italians in Italy, whether internal migrants or non-movers, tend to have a less negative view of their country, and to express stronger emotional ties to family and place

• Future moves: internal migrants unlikely to return to South; international migrants more open-ended about return

36