The Urban Dimension of European Return Migration: The Case of Bari, Southern Italy

Abstract

Amongst a growing literature on intra-European return migration there has been little attention paid to urban settlements. This paper, based on 211 interviews of returned migrants in the south Italian city of Bari, aims to rectify this deficiency. A number of hypotheses concerning the distinctiveness of urban return are put forward and tested using official migration statistics and the questionnaire information, including data from a control sample of 415 rural returnees. As an example of an urban area in an emigration region, Bari is found to experience less emigration and more return migration, than its surrounding rural areas. Its returnees have been to a wider range of destination countries, and for longer periods, than the rural control group. They are also a more diverse group in their employment patterns, both before, during and after migration, and have different attitudes towards migration and return and different priorities and opportunities for the use of migrant savings.

Introduction: definitions, typologies and theories of return migration

“…We endorse the definition of King (1986aKing ( , 2000, above, with the proviso that the 'significant period abroad' can be varied according to context. In their field survey of return migration to Southern Italy carried out in the early 1980s, King et al (1984King et al ( , 1985King et al ( , 1986) specified a dual temporal threshold: at least one year spent abroad and at least a year spent back in the home community, in order to exclude temporary return visitors. Kuschminder's more recent research on return migration and reintegration in Ethiopia considered a minimum of three months for the stay abroad -on the argument that this allowed for short-term contract migration and student migration -and in the belief that this length of time still allows for 'exposure to another culture and context to have an impact on individuals' values and behaviours ' (2017, p.5).…”

Determinants of International Return Migration Intentions*

“…The temporal trend captures time-varying structural factors, in particular those fostering a climate of migration (Richardson 1974). Previous studies suggest that a climate of international return migration is not strongly influenced by economic factors (Gmelch 1983;King et al 1985;Jones 1990;Bailey and Ellis 1993). Instead, the key structural element captured in the temporal trend is the degree to which the migrant community has become established within the host society.…”

“…The international migration literature has identified a variety of factors that influence observed return migration behavior, most notably noneconomic factors such as patriotic and social ties to home and a lack o f assimilation into the host society (Gmelch 1983;Lichtenberger 1984;King et al 1985King et al , 1986Petras and Kousis 1988;Jones 1990). However, there is a noticeable lack of research on the determinants of return migration intentions.…”

Return and the Social Environment of Andalusian Emigrants in Europe

“…In other words, studying the Andalusians' decisions to emigrate requires identifying the conditions that made those emigrants similar to other Spanish labour migrants, whilst also taking into account the particular features of the geographical environment of Jaén and Andalusia. To some extent, this is a matter of acknowledging that they had been subject to a degree of social exclusion in the area of origin (King et al 1985), and that their decision to return may be conditioned by the reasons for emigrating (Lepore 1986). This hypothesis provides a starting-point for our analysis.…”