Synopses & Reviews
This book examines one of Europes newest and most dramatic mass migrations: the exodus of a significant share of the Albanian population since 1990. Drawing on a range of richly documented and rigorously researched case studies, the volume presents a detailed picture of this mass exodus and its multiple effects on Albania, the destination countries, and the migrants themselves. Amongst the topics covered are the causes, chronology, and theorization of this emigration; the experiences of Albanian migrants in Greece, Italy, and the United States; the problematic reaction of Greek society to the sudden presence of half a million Albanian immigrants; prospects for return migration and for the strategic use of remittances to stimulate Albanian economic development; and the dynamics of migration, ethnicity, and identity in the Greek-Albanian border zone. Stress is also laid on the rapidly-evolving nature of Albanian migration and on its diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, class, duration, and direction. This book is essential reading for scholars of European migration and for specialists in Albanian, Balkan, and Mediterranean studies.
Synopsis
This is the first major book on Albanian migration, the most significant East-West migration since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Prevented from leaving their country for over 45 years, the citizens of the Republic of Albania emigrated en masse during the 1990s and the exodus continues. According to the 2001 census, one in five Albanians was a migrant living abroad, mainly in Greece and Italy but also, and increasingly, in a range of other European countries and in North America. The volume offers a comprehensive and integrated understanding of Albanian migration, addressing its temporal and spatial dynamics, its diversity of types and destinations, and the implications of the migration for Albanian society and economic development. Its contributors comprise key researchers on Albanian migration from around the world. The book reflects the wide diversity of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches deployed by researchers studying this phenomenon.
About the Author
Russell King is a professor of geography at the University of Sussex. He is the author of numerous books and articles and is the editor of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Nicola Mai is a reader in migration studies at the Institute for the Study of European Transformations. He is the coauthor of Exploding Migration Myths and Out of Albania. Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers is a faculty member at the school of business and social sciences at Roehampton University. She is the author of Albanian Identities: Myth and History.