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Paper short abstract:

Building on a fieldwork I carried out with Argentinians of Italian descent, this paper tackles the nexus between the longstanding Italian emigration towards Argentina, which is characteristic of older generations, and the current emigration of young Italian generations towards European countries.

Paper long abstract:

Building on a fieldwork I carried out with Argentinians of Italian descent who “return migrate” to Europe, this paper tackles the nexus between the longstanding Italian emigration towards Argentina, which is characteristic of older generations, and the current emigration of Italians towards European countries, that has been recorded from the 2000s on and that is mainly composed by young generations. This nexus is rooted in the existence of a plethora of transnational families, which span over time and space as a result of the historical Italian migration towards Argentina. Such families build on what we may call a migration culture, which is transmitted from one generation to another. Indeed, old Italian emigrants pass on to their grandchildren the habit to consider migration as an ordinary practice and a ready-to-use response to the difficulties of everyday life. On their hand, young Argentinians of Italian descent move towards Italy and other European countries thanks to the Italian passport they inherit from their grand-parents by virtue of jus sanguinis.

This paper will show, on the one hand, how the generation of Italian emigrants’ grand-children use the national membership they inherit from their grand-parents as a way to emigrate to and within Europe in times of chronic economic crisis. On the other hand, it will examine how these new mobility dynamics, which stem from a deep-rooted migration tradition transmitted within transnational families, contribute to forging new futures for young Italian generations that were born and raised abroad.