Migration is often viewed only as a one-way process, from the country of origin to the place of arrival, but also the reverse direction is an interesting field for academic research. Return migration, also termed as remigration or repatriation, has been part of several migration movements in the past, for example, the transatlantic return in the 19th century, the return of migrant workers and refugees in the 20th century, the repatriation of war refugees during and after the First World War, as well as other forced migrants around and after the Second World War. But despite the boom in migration studies in recent years, return migration is still a neglected topic within migration history. In this context, the transnational project “ReMIGRA: Return Migration as an Interdisciplinary Research Area using the Example of the South Tyrolean ‘Return Option’”, a collaboration between the Universities of Innsbruck and Bolzano, attempts to draw attention to this research gap by analyzing return migration mechanics through the case study of the South Tyrolean optants. The international conference, which is being reported here, aimed to illustrate various aspects and reasons of return migration and identify new fields of research.
Panel 1 opened some interesting insights on return migration in some peripheral Italian regions, chiefly Sicily and Aosta Valley. The papers, presented by FRANCESCA FRISONE (Messina) and ALESSANDRO CELI (Aosta), focused on the motives and the purposes of potential return migrants in going back to their homelands, as well as on the difficulties and the obstacles they face in these processes. This opening panel helped highlight the diversity of return migration by presenting some examples of the non-definitive nature, circularity and peculiarities of this type of movement of people.
The focus of the Second Panel lied on return migrations both from and to the African continent. The first two papers, by EMANUELE ERTOLA (Pavia) and ALESSANDRO PES (Cagliari), shared the common theme of the legacy of Italian settler colonialism and its role in the Italian colonialist narrative and they underlined how Italian settler colonialism was both a typical colonial institution (in its practice) and a peculiar collective experience in how it is remembered in the Italian historical consciousness. The third paper, by ABDALLAH ZOUHAIRI (Casablanca) focused on the influences of the target countries' cultures on the return migrants once they come back home, an interesting theme that later emerged in other panels during the conference.
The “Round Table” has offered the discussion between MACHTELD VENKEN (Luxembourg), MASSIMILIANO LIVI (Trier) and EVA PFANZELTER (Innsbruck), who deepened the approaches and different methods on remigration studies. During the debate, emphasis was given to the crucial role of digitization but also to its limitations. For example, an underrepresentation of women in many digitized archives emerged. Moreover, the concept of circularity of migration was discussed and thus the meaning that the term return acquired. Remigration was eventually defined as a not generalizable work in progress: there will never be the same return migration because the reception, the infrastructure, and the state will always be different. Moreover, return migrations are often conditioned by a number of different political and social dynamics. Therefore, an interdisciplinary study that takes into account micro and macro dynamics seems to be necessary.
The importance of statistical data in the field of remigration was demonstrated by panel 3, which presented a great variety in themes. What emerged from the three papers is the often surprising and unexpected nature of return migrations, which is in many cases completely different from the perceived historical “truth” of the public narrative. MILOS MILOVANOVIC (Budapest) presented a detailed economical, social and cultural survey of the return migrants communities in the Republic of Serbia, which shared many features with Abdallah Zouhairi and Marco Moschetti papers on the great influence of the target countries in returnees communities. STEFANO GALLO (Naples / Pisa) debunked the myth of the Italian “golondrinas” (annual migrations from and to Argentina) by analyzing Argentina’s national immigration database and gave an interpretation on the economical and political motives behind this fabrication. VALERIO LARCHER (Bolzano) presented an initial cartographic visualization of the ReMIGRA project database and some insights on the South Tyrolean return migrations that were unveiled with the historic-cartographic analysis.
Panel 4 focused on the various aspects of remigration that can emerge in different cultural, political and economic environments. The analysis of the underlying motives behind Remigration and whether these motives are endogenous or exogenous for the people involved is what drives both papers presented in this panel by CLAUDIA OLIVIER-MENSAH (Mainz) and MARTINA SEMBOLONI (Pisa). It is worth noting that the two cases are very different in both the driving force behind the Remigrations presented and the direction of these Remigrations (one is set to force people leave a country, the other is set to encourage people return to a country), nonetheless these differences can help ignite the emerging discussion in this field of research. Moreover, it is clear to everyone that these themes are not only extremely important in an historical perspective, but also as relevant as ever today.
The second part of the conference involved the presentation of papers by AGNES GEHBALD (Bern), MARCO MOSCHETTI (Bologna), and LORELLA VIOLA (Luxembourg), who discussed in panel 5 various aspects of the “transatlantic return migration” in the 19th and 20th centuries. Departures for the Americas were a significant part of the European migration experience and influenced not only the private dimension of the singular migrants but also the public sphere and European dynamics. This panel addressed different aspects of Americas remigrations: From the bureaucratic and economic organization of the port of Hamburg in 1900, through the narrative of Migrants newspapers to the microhistory of the Apennine Mountains of Modena, revealing how return migration deeply influenced both public and private dimensions of the social life.
The last panel, “Aspect of South Tyrolean Re-Option”, presented some issues related to the processes of return to Italy (or non-return) following the 1939 Options i.e., the Italo-German agreements for the displacement of the German-speaking population. The presented projects are the result of collaborative research groups between the universities of Innsbruck and Bolzano. The speakers IVAN STECHER (Innsbruck), VERENA HECHENBLAIKNER (Innsbruck), SARAH OBERBICHLER (Innsbruck) and GIADA NOTO (Bolzano) showed how Re-options remain an understudied and extremely multifaceted topic. Many crucial issues were presented: the question of border traffic; the analysis of the decision-making processes that led the optants to decide whether or not to leave; the difference between Austrian vs. Italian management and economic aspects of re-option; and special cases such as Kanaltal.
The various contributions during the conference illustrated the diversity of return migration. Despite the different regional case studies, recurring common themes, such as the influences of the target countries' cultures on the returning migrants or the very circular and non-linear nature of the migration-remigration process, could be identified. Nevertheless, return migration cannot be generalized, since, as all cases exemplify, this process always depends on the context and is conditioned by a number of different personal, political, and social dynamics. The conference demonstrated the broad, interdisciplinary methods, which can be applied to examine the topic of repatriation and highlighted their potential and limits. Social science approaches, statistical procedures, linguistic studies, oral history, historic-cartographic analysis, or digital humanities in general, to name just a few, are possible methods to investigate return migration, whether alone or in combination. In spite of the three conference languages German, Italian, and English, which led to some communication difficulties, a successful exchange was achieved. In addition to an overview of various topics of remigration, a network building within the field of return migration research has been initiated. Thus, several discussions about future exchange possibilities, and cooperation were held. Ultimately, the ReMIGRA conference has indicated a demand for a further intensification of the field emerged during these discussions.
Conference overview:
Ingrid Böhler / Dirk Rupnow (Innsbruck) / Eva Pfanzelter (Innsbruck) / Andrea Di Michele (Bozen): Opening remarks
Panel 1: Voices of (Return-)Migration
Francesca Frisone (Messina): A Survey on Re-Migrations in Sicily between 1955 and 1965. A Note for a Mentalities History
Alessandro Celi (Aosta): About Emigrating and Returning: Five Examples from the Aosta Valley
Panel 2: The African Experiences
Emanuele Ertola (Pavia): The End of the World as We Know It: Framing Settlers’ Return to Italy in the Current International Debate
Alessandro Pes (Cagliari): A Work Experience: Narratives of Colonial Past in Post-Colonial Italy
Abdallah Zouhairi (Casablanca): Returning Moroccan Migrants and the Image of International Emigration to Europe
Round Table
Machteld Venken (Luxembourg): Return Migration, Welfare, and the French-Luxembourg Borderlands after the First World War
Massimiliano Livi (Trier): Processes and dynamics of social cohesion in remigration studies
Eva Pfanzelter (Innsbruck): Return Migration as an Interdisciplinary Research Area Using the Example of the South Tyrolean “Return Option“
Panel 3: The Value of Numbers
Miloš Milovanović (Budapest): Returnees from Work Abroad to Serbia: Full Suitcases of Capital(s)?
Stefano Gallo (Naples / Pisa): Italian “golondrinas“ Migrants between the Late 19th and Early 20th Century: An Empirical Verification
Valerio Larcher (Bozen): A Historical Atlas of the “South Tyrolean Return Option“
Panel 4: Aspects of Trans-Remigration
Claudia Olivier-Mensah (Mainz): “Voluntary“ return instead of deportation?! A social work perspective on the return of refugees in Germany
Cinzia Buccianti (Siena) / Martina Semboloni (Pisa): In Search of Family Roots: Genealogical Tourism
Panel 5: Transatlantic return migration
Agnes Gehbald (Bern): The Harbour of Hamburg as Bottleneck: Infrastructures of Trans-Atlantic Return Migration around 1900
Marco Moschetti (Bologna): “Oh Great America, Oh Beloved Mountains“ Return Migration from the United States to the Modenese Apennines: A Research of Oral History
Lorella Viola (Luxembourg): Narratives of Italian Transatlantic Remigration, 1898 to 1936
Panel 6: Aspects of the South Tyrolean Re-Option
Giada Noto (Bozen): Return Option in Kanaltal/Valcanale/Kanalska dolina
Ivan Stecher (Innsbruck): The Decision-Making Process and Re-Option of the South Tyrolean Optants from the Perspective of Contemporary Witnesses
Verena Hechenblaikner (Innsbruck): Border traffic between North Tyrol and South Tyrol after World War II
Sarah Oberbichler (Innsbruck): Symbolic Politics and Economic Aspects of Return Migration: The South Tyrolean Example