MIGRANTWORKEUROLAB · Migrant workers across European Labour markets. Mobility, citizenship and urban resources in the pre-industrial cities - XVIth-XVIIIth century

Migrant workers across European Labour markets. Mobility, citizenship and urban resources in the pre-industrial cities - XVIth-XVIIIth century

The research focused on migrant workers in the European labour market during the early modern age. The project has been carried out addressing four main issues: 1. the reception of immigrants and the category of 'foreigner'; 2. Trajectories and systems of migrant labour; 3. Migrant workers as temporary workers; 4. Keeping contacts: migrant workers as bridges between European countries. The research could be relevant for policy makers and institutions dealing with immigration and integration issues. Among the three main achievements of the project are the following: 1. The policies set up by Italian urban authorities in the preindustrial age varied depending on many elements, and the main concern of urban governments was about resources, whereas the categories of 'immigrant', of 'foreigner' were rarely mentioned in the ordinances. We can thus hardly establish a clear difference between migrants and native people, since immigrants are not a unique category: a rich merchant has nothing in common with a seasonal, waged worker, nevertheless, they could both belong to the 'migrant' category. In order to understand the mobility patterns of international migrant throughout Europe, we need to take into account several other elements, such as the age at the migration, the city of departure / arrival, the job, the level of fortune and the kind of migration (individual's or household's). The differences we can observe in migration policies are of course the result of political organisations and traditions who change sharply depending on the areas. The juridical categories of the inclusion of foreigners change following spaces and times: citizenship, burgership, status of resident, can be important requirements in order to get a full insertion in the city of arrival; nevertheless, citizenship is not always needed, nor becoming citizen is the aim of every migrant. If every city can grant the right of citizenship, strong differences can be observed between areas where the political concept of burgership exist (northern European cities) and areas where it does not. Nevertheless, everywhere, agency and social networks exert an autonomous, self-regulating influence, which put important limits to policies. 2. Individuals' mobility connects European areas, defining a common space of life and work. But it is not only the migration from a country to another which makes the connection, since, once arrived in the new city, international migrants keep contacts with their birthplaces. Connections are made by ordinary people, migrant workers of every kind, and not only rich merchants and intellectuals. Historiography has often underlined the role of these two groups in the building of a network of common knowledge and economic exchange: nevertheless, data collected during the MIGRANTWORKEUROLAB project show that also 'ordinary' international migrants sometimes keep contacts with their home country. Testaments, letters and accounts books are especially valuable for this kind of research: we find evidences of the connections established by international migrants. These connections are often kept because of goods still possessed in the home country, or because of relatives living there. So, the management of houses or land requires international migrants to keep in touch with their birthplace, but also the marriage of a sister who must be provided with a dowry, the sold of family's properties, the division of an heritage, and so on. It is important to underline that these connections are made thanks to intermediaries who acts locally: to this regard, the power of attorney is the best way, and the most widespread, international migrants have in order to keep contacts with their birthplaces.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union