Introduction -- Overseas emigration from the Balkans until 1914 -- To make a living in America - and at home -- The politics of emigration -- Nationalism, the state, and emigrants in the interwar period -- The emerging communist emigration regime -- Conclusions.
Scope & Content
"At the end of the nineteenth century, Southeastern Europe became a prime sending region of emigrants to overseas countries, in particular the United States. This massive movement of people ended in 1914 but remained consequential long thereafter, as emigration had created networks, memories, and attitudes that shaped social and political practices in Southeastern Europe long after the emigrants had left. This book's main concern is to reconstruct the political and socioeconomic impact of emigration on Southeastern Europe. In contrast to migration studies' traditional focus on immigration, this book concentrates on the sending countries. The author provides a comparative analysis of the socioeconomic causes and consequences of emigration and argues that migrant networks and emulation effects were crucial for the persistence of migration inclinations. It also brings the state back in the emigration story and discusses political responses towards emigration by governments in the region before 1914. This book presents emigration as a complex social phenomenon that requires a multifaceted historical approach in order to reveal the effects of migration on different temporal and spatial scales"--Provided by publisher.
