projects and expectations of emigrants are observed and discussed, to reveal change and permanence in their behaviour and relationship with the family and the community at home. The feelings and psychological reactions stirred up by the return are studied by comparing several cases based on the evidence gathered from surveys of Alpine migrants and other emigrant groups. The results show the variety and complexity of reactions to the “return”, observed in emigrants and members of their families and the community waiting at home.
Casimira Grandi, The bitter return. Female occupational mobility
between devaluation and “social diseases” (19th-20th centuries)
The devaluation of a female back-migrant on grounds of alleged “social diseases” (“social” because of the social use made of them) contracted in the
destination country may be assimilated to a more general (regardless of gender)
moral cleansing to which were subjected all returnees to the country of origin.
A woman was not only found guilty by her people if she had been struck by a
shameful venereal disease but, ultimately, she was also blamed for any pathology
that restricted her ability to work. No doubt her moral recovery took on added
value when achieved under the cloak of moral censorship. It was an “operation”
undertaken jointly by the civil authorities, the religious institutions, and the
family. The family, in particular, was concerned with pocketing the woman’s
remittances and restoring the “union” of family and work which she represented,
by reintegrating her into the household without destabilizing effects.
Vanessa Gianno, Swiss citizens returning to their home country
from Italy during World War II: between diplomatic negotiations
and humanitarian aid
During the Second World War, Switzerland provided shelter for many refugees who were trying to escape political or racial persecution in neighbouring
countries. What is less known is the homecoming of Swiss nationals who had
emigrated all over Europe and who, for different reasons, decided to return to
their native country: Swiss citizens of Jewish descent or religion persecuted by
German and Italian racial laws, Swiss citizens running away from unemployment
and bomb raids, former Swiss women who had surrendered their citizenship on
