Emigrant Nation : The Making of Italy Abroad

Mark I. Choate

ISBN 10: 0674027841 / ISBN 13: 9780674027848

Published by Harvard University Press Jun 2008, 2008

About this Item

Neuware - Between 1880 and 1915, 13 million Italians left their homeland, launching the largest emigration in recorded world history. In its discussion of immigrant culture, transnational identities, and international politics, this book narrates the story of Italian emigration and provides background to immigration debates that continue to this day.

Seller Inventory # 9780674027848

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Emigrant Nation : The Making of Italy Abroad
• Publisher: Harvard University Press Jun 2008
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674027841
• ISBN 13: 9780674027848
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 243W x 167H x 29D millimeters 243 millimeters width by 167 millimeters height by 29 millimeters depth
• Weight: 698 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Between 1880 and 1915, thirteen million Italians left their homeland, launching the largest emigration from any country in recorded world history. As the young Italian state struggled to adapt to the exodus, it pioneered the establishment of a “global nation”―an Italy abroad cemented by ties of culture, religion, ethnicity, and economics.

In this wide-ranging work, Mark Choate examines the relationship between the Italian emigrants, their new communities, and their home country. The state maintained that emigrants were linked to Italy and to one another through a shared culture. Officials established a variety of programs to coordinate Italian communities worldwide. They fostered identity through schools, athletic groups, the Dante Alighieri Society, the Italian Geographic Society, the Catholic Church, Chambers of Commerce, and special banks to handle emigrant remittances. But the projects aimed at binding Italians together also raised intense debates over priorities and the emigrants’ best interests. Did encouraging loyalty to Italy make the emigrants less successful at integrating? Were funds better spent on supporting the home nation rather than sustaining overseas connections?

In its probing discussion of immigrant culture, transnational identities, and international politics, this fascinating book not only narrates the grand story of Italian emigration but also provides important background to immigration debates that continue to this day.

About the Author

Mark I. Choate is Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University.