Abstract

Analysing the dynamics of the post-1990 Albanian migration to Italy, this book is the first major study of one of Europe’s newest, most dramatic yet least understood migrations. It takes a close look at migrants’ employment, housing and social exclusion in Italy, as well as the process of return migration to Albania. The research described in the book challenges the pervasive stereotype of the “bad Albanian” and, through in-depth fieldwork on Albanian communities in Italy and back in Albania, provides rich insights into the Albanian experience of migration, settlement and return in both their positive and their negative aspects.

Nicola Mai is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of European Transformations, London Metropolitan University. Both together and individually, they have published widely in the field of migration studies, specialising in Italy, Albania and other Southern European and Balkan countries.

Russell King is Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex and Director of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research.

“I strongly believe that this book will soon become a ‘standard reference’ in studies of Albanian society, Albanian migration, immigration to Italy (and possibly to Greece).”  ·  Panos Hatziprokopiou