Diaspora or International Proletariat?: Italian Labor, Labor Migration, and the Making of Multiethnic States, 1815-1939

Disclaimed or Reclaimed? Muslim Refugee Youth and Belonging in the Age of Hyperbolisation

“…The majority European migrants among the earliest arrivals were thus differentiated not only by class, with the majority's migration decisions shaped by multiple factors (economic, political and religious), but also by race as understood in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Religion was also a key fracturing ideology that plagued Europe for centuries, while region of origin mattered even for those leaving from areas that eventually became one nation state (Gans 1979, Gabaccia and Ottanelli 1997, Brodkin 1998). …”

Italian history and gli italiani nel mondo, part I

“…That there are such similarities appears to be more widely accepted than queried: explicitly multinational studies -like those on Italian women, labor militancy, labor recruitment and community formation in the USA and Canada -suggest few real differences in Italian experiences in the two countries, at least in the early years of the century. One effort to consider this issue systematically (Gabaccia and Ottanelli 1995) argues that Italian workers remained quite marginal in labor movements throughout the English-speaking world because their own traditions of plebeian protest and anarcho-syndicalism, and their niche in unskilled, seasonal labor, poorly fit with Anglo-American organizing strategies (trade unionism and labor reform movements spearheaded by skilled worker citizens). Italians found incorporation in the USA,for example, first only in ethnic union locals.…”

“…A recent collection of essays, with contributions on Italian workers on five continents, edited by Bruno Bezza (1983), provides raw material for further analysis along the lines Ragionieri suggested. And my own recent work (Gabaccia 1994), as well as my work with Fraser Ottanelli (Gabaccia and Ottanelli 1995), also follows in Ragionieri's footsteps, linking Italian and international labor developments.…”

Italian history and gli italiani nel mondo, Part II

“…In doing so, they have often emphasized the relative ease with which they learn each other's languages, or pointed to cultural preferences, perhaps related to language, for the intellectual and ideological influence of Paris over London or Berlin, of the French Revolution (and its slogan of 'liberty, equality, fraternity') over the American one. In the history of international labor and radical traditions, 'Latin' often also signals a preference for the models of republican or communal France over those of the liberal USA or Britain or over those of authoritarian Germany (Gabaccia and Ottanelli 1995).…”

“…In such an approach, Italy's history could be interpreted as ever-responsive to, and simultaneously an important influence upon, developments among gli italiani nel mondo. Certainly, a goal of an internationalized Italian history has guided the scholars collaborating on the international project, 'For Us There are No Frontiers', on Italian labor migration and labor radicalism around the globe (Gabaccia and Ottanelli 1995).…”