Italian Women in Basilicata
Staying Behind but Moving Forward during the Age of Mass Emigration, 1876–1914
Seiten
2024
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-0780-5 (ISBN)
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-0780-5 (ISBN)
This book examines the women who remained behind in the southern Italian region of Basilicata during the age of mass migration. While thousands of married men left, their wives remained in Italy, taking on a new role and challenging stereotypes.
This study examines the role of southern Italian women who remained behind when their husbands emigrated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By piecing together limited archival source material, the author argues that married women were not voiceless or powerless when their husbands were abroad, but they took on roles beyond their limited legal position. They petitioned local officials, requested passports, received remittances, and handled the family finances, all in the absence of their husbands, the legal head of the family. The study also emphasizes the connection forged between women and the new Italian state at a time when women did not have political rights. Centering on Basilicata—a “forgotten” region of the Italian south and one that has not been a major focus of scholarly investigation—this study challenges stereotypes that the Italian south was backwards, uncivilized, and lagging behind northern Italy. The author argues that large scale emigration greatly impacted the married women left behind in the villages of Basilicata, changing their social, political, and economic role.
This study examines the role of southern Italian women who remained behind when their husbands emigrated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By piecing together limited archival source material, the author argues that married women were not voiceless or powerless when their husbands were abroad, but they took on roles beyond their limited legal position. They petitioned local officials, requested passports, received remittances, and handled the family finances, all in the absence of their husbands, the legal head of the family. The study also emphasizes the connection forged between women and the new Italian state at a time when women did not have political rights. Centering on Basilicata—a “forgotten” region of the Italian south and one that has not been a major focus of scholarly investigation—this study challenges stereotypes that the Italian south was backwards, uncivilized, and lagging behind northern Italy. The author argues that large scale emigration greatly impacted the married women left behind in the villages of Basilicata, changing their social, political, and economic role.
Victoria Calabrese teaches at Iona College.
Preface: A Woman Left Behind
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Women, Emigration, and Basilicata
Chapter 1: Marriage, Tradition, and Emigration
Chapter 2: Motherhood and Migration
Chapter 3: Women and Economic Change in an Era of Mass Migration
Chapter 4: Women and the State: Forging Citizenship
Chapter 5: Family, Community, and Church: Coping with Emigration
Chapter 6: Deviant Women: Criminal and Dishonorable Activity
Chapter 7: Returning Men and Emigrating Women
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
Erscheinungsdatum | 22.03.2024 |
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Verlagsort | Lanham, MD |
Sprache | englisch |
Maße | 152 x 227 mm |
Gewicht | 336 g |
Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte |
Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies | |
ISBN-10 | 1-7936-0780-X / 179360780X |
ISBN-13 | 978-1-7936-0780-5 / 9781793607805 |
Zustand | Neuware |
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