I tre cicli dell'emigrazione italiana

The thesis of this article is that the economic and social transformations that have taken place in Italy in different moments of its history have always had significant effects on emigration, activating migration streams and influencing their composition. In turn, Italian emigration has always had significant effects on the social and economic situation of the country. These reciprocal relations and influences shall be analysed with reference to the three great cycles that characterised the phenomenon: a) emigration, especially oversee emigration, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (the 'Great Emigration'); b)intra-European migrations after World War II driven by the industrial development of Northern Europe; c) the migratory movement currently underway, linked to the processes of globalisation that see Italy as a migratory crossroad owing to the presence of emigration and immigration.