European populations have never been static, and traditionally tended to be much more mobile than was once thought (Lucassen and Lucassen 2009). Migratory movements have been an integral part of the life of Europeans since the Middle Ages: permanent settlement was not a universal way of living. Whether they were short or long-term, linked to seasonal or periodic mobility, or towards proximate or distant destinations, these movements were important mechanisms for the functioning of society at particular times and gave rise to well-established migratory traditions in numerous geographical areas of Europe from the coasts of the North Sea to the Iberian Peninsula (Lucassen 1987, pp. 110, 116â117, 201; Lucassen and Lucassen 2015).
Short term and long term migrant workers have been drawn from different categories of people at different points in time: in the first place, farm workers were accustomed to migratory movements since they âcame from a society used to movement, with men and women accustomed to uprooting themselves from their villages, even for months at a timeâ (Bevilacqua 2001, pp. 4â6). They usually moved from poorer areas, such as the mountainous zones of the Alps, the pre-Alpine areas and the Apennines and often crossed international borders to take up seasonal wheat harvesting work in flat land plains. Secondly, some historians have also focused on the role of drifters in paving the way for international migrants: these included nomads, itinerant workers, and wandering migrants who went from Italy and France to Scotland and did not have a fixed home but supported themselves with various jobs. Among their ranks were travelling salesmen, seasonal harvesters and even beggars (Davico 1968; Fontaine 1996; Bade 2000, p. 47). These wandering vagabonds, tinkers, pipers, musicians and coppersmiths were often the first ones to take off for distant lands, and they paved the way for subsequent migratory currents: âThe emigration of wanderers was thus the adjoining link between traditional forms of nomadism and the modern phenomenon of mass migration of the Twentieth centuryâ (De Clementi 1996, pp. 393â394). Wanderers were often the first migrant entrepreneurs, opening up a small independent business once they decided to settle in a foreign country: the first Italian migrants to Argentina, for instance, improvised in this fashion, but it is important to underline that past as well as present-day migrants often intended to become entrepreneurs, that is they planned to manage a shop, a restaurant, an artisan workshop, etc. They emigrated because they were jobless and without prospects and they were determined to be masters of their own destiny in their new countries. Finally, we should not forget the movements around the Mediterranean of professionals, entrepreneurs, merchants, doctors, and political exiles who were scattered ânearly all around the Levantâ as well as overseas (Audenino and Tirabassi 2008). In the Middle Ages the Mediterranean was not only a place of conflict, but also and especially of peaceful inter-relationships, trade, reciprocal exchanges of ideas and scientific knowledge and naturally, migratory waves. On the coast of Africa, the scale and variety of movement was such that âthe Sardinian, Tuscan, Venetian and Sicilian consulates are as busy as the French consulatesâ (Speziale 2011). A paradigmatic example relates to a group of well-educated Italian Jews from Livorno who settled in Tunis around 1700: most of them were merchants who made use of the linkages to Mediterranean commercial networks to assume important roles in Tunis, as agents for the corsairs and their financial backers. They developed thriving trade relations with Tuscany and Sardinia. Their contacts and wealth enabled them to join the circle of the ruling elite, where they served as advisors, business representatives or physicians to several Beys (Fauri 2016).
From the mid-Nineteenth century, as the revolution in transportation made travelling abroad easier and faster, the custom of migrating contributed to facilitating the choice of leaving for north or south America as well as more traditional destinations. Thus, in many ways, the psychological preparedness for leaving Europe had been built upon the long established tradition of internal and international migration in Europe. This is evident, for example, in the case of Italian emigration both at the end of the Nineteenth century and post-World War II: it is also interesting to note that domestic public institutions favoured migration flows which reduced pressure on the internal labour market and increased the volume of remittances sent home by migrants (De Clementi 2010; Fauri 2015).
Despite the attraction of the Americas, Europe remained a continent where people continued to move around a lot in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries, especially from the Southern countries to the richer Northern countries. After World War II, then, decolonization prompted large migration movements from extra-European countries to Europe. From the 1950s the newly born European institutions had to deal with migrant flows from non-ECSC/EEC countries: the proportion of non-European migrants continued to increase even as the number of EEC/EU member countries increased. This provoked support for the creation of âFortress Europeâ. This idea of âFortress Europeâ assumed central politic relevance with the accession to the EU of eastern European countries from 2004 and the economic and social effects of the international financial crisis of 2008 (Koff 2008; Blanco Sio-Lopez and Tedeschi 2015).
Migration is a multi-faceted phenomenon and not easy to define. Most migrants have traditionally been job seekers attracted by wage differentials, better living standards and job opportunities, but the migration choice also depended on non-economic reasons. The place of destination was sometimes the result of ethnic chains and connections built by pre-existing immigrant communities. Similarly, migration cannot be considered an income-maximizing choice taken by an individual alone; as historians underline, it is often a household strategy, a decision taken within the family context to support and improve living conditions at home. Furthermore, some ethnic groups are more or less likely to engage in the entrepreneurial process. This difference may be a function of ethnicity per se or the outcome of the complex interplay of social, economic and institutional processes known as âmixed embeddednessâ.
In this volume, the contributors explore the universe of migrants as both job seekers and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in Europe over the last hundred years. Migrantsâ motivations, adaptation to new cultural and working environment and the effects of their presence on social and economic structures in the country of destination are analysed. In addition, rather than engaging with the question of why some ethnic groups compete more successfully in business, authors concentrate on specific case studies of ethnic groups with a high level of entrepreneurship and self-employment. Ethnic ventures often rely on social networks to access information and resources as well as to achieve legal status. Ethnic entrepreneurs are risk takers but they must also be capable of navigating between the intricate relationships among organizational learning, social networks and the country of destinationâs rules.
Two papers will look at Southern Europeans moving to Northern European countries after the Second World War: numerous Spanish migrants moved to work in German factories during the years of the economic miracle, while Belgian mines consistently attracted flows of Italians after 1945. Over the years many Italian immigrants have achieved successful results in terms of both integration and entrepreneurship. Over the last fifty years in particular, Europe has become a very attractive continent for immigrants from all over the world. This is another theme which emerges quite clearly from the four contributions: latter-day migration is an increasingly cross-cultural phenomenon. In Vera Zamagniâs words: âWe can easily admit that the more distant the cultures that come into contact are, the more impressive the impact of migrations on societies will beâ (Zamagni 2015). The fact that most migrants come from outside Europe today has not only increased the âdistanceâ between cultures of origin and cultures of destination but has sometimes complicated the integration process, though in a largely positive fashion. Chinese immigrants, for instance, might first arrive to work in a fellow countrymanâs firm but their dream is to become small entrepreneurs. This is a pragmatic policy in the face of the challenges of integration but it is also a marker of the tradition of small business inherited from home provinces such as Wenzhou. Immigration waves from Africa have tended to experience greater problems in respect of integration and identification. These difficulties have given rise to social phenomena that need to be studied at a deeper level, because a minority of cases have involved dangerous spin offs to terrorism.
Therefore, as these four contributions will show, the economic and social impact of migration varies a lot depending on the âdistanceâ between the two communities, both partiesâ efforts to facilitate integration and the entrepreneurial spirit of incoming migrants. The ultimate aim of this and future studies in this direction is to contribute to a better understanding of the effect that different forms of migration have had and will continue to have on economic and social change in recipient countries. These policy-relevant issues remain underexplored to a degree, but only a better understanding of history can help avoid (increasingly prevalent) forms of racism. These can involve a lack of initiative on the part of host countries and desire for revenge fuelled by a sense of exclusion on the part of immigrants.
This book offers four examples of integration and entrepreneurship among migrant workers coming to Europe from other European countries and from the rest of the world. In the first chapter Patrizia Battilani and Francesca Fauri identify three distinct waves of Chinese migration to Italy. The first wave occurred in the very early stage of Sino-Italian relations (1850â1915), and was characterized by the sporadic presence of Chinese citizens, most of them involved in Sino-Italian diplomatic relations or Catholic missionary work. During the second wave of Chinese immigration (1930â1970), a cohesive and closely interconnected community started to develop, especially in Milan but also in Bologna. After the forced interlude of the...