Italian Workers of the World: Labor Migration and the Formation of Multiethnic States (Statue of Liberty Ellis Island) [Hardcover]

Donna R. Gabaccia (Editor), Fraser Ottanelli (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2001 | Series: Statue of Liberty Ellis Island

Offering a kaleidoscopic perspective on the experiences of Italian workers on foreign soil, "Italian Workers of the World" explores the complex links between international class formation and nation building. Distinguished by an international panel of contributors, this wide-ranging volume examines how the reception of immigrants in their new countries shaped their sense of national identity and helped determine the nature of the multiethnic states in which they settled. In Argentina and Brazil, Italian migrants were welcomed as a civilizing influence and were instrumental in establishing and leading syndicalist and anarcho-syndicalist labor movements committed to labor internationalism. In the United States, by contrast, where Italian workers were greeted by the American Federation of Labor's hostility to socialism, internationalism, and unskilled laborers, they organized in ethnically mixed unions, including the radical Industrial Workers of the World. The xenophobia they encountered in the "land of opportunity" ultimately encouraged sympathy among Italian Americans for Mussolini's modernizing, imperialist ambitions for the Italian state.Covering the work of republican "Garibaldians" in South America and antifascist currents among Italian migrants in France and the United States, as well as such seminal events as the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia, Italian Workers of the World shows how modes of incorporating (or excluding) foreign-born workers were carried over from nineteenth-century labor movements to twentieth-century nation-states. This volume also paves the way for new modes of collaboration across the boundaries of historical nationalism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This stimulating collection suggests new approaches adaptable to several disciplines and provides model essays for the next generation of migration scholars." -- Janet E. Worrall, American Historical Review "In this path-breaking collection of essays, editors Donna Gabaccia and Fraser Ottanelli and chapter contributors trace the ideological, political, and cultural courses charted by Italy's migrants. ... Italian Workers of the World offers profound new ways of thinking about class and ethnic identities, immigrant communities, and the importance of national histories. ... They have produced a remarkable work that was well worth the effort." --Caroline Waldron Merithew, Labor History ADVANCE PRAISE: "Marked by a rare coherence and clarity of vision, this elegant collection is a focused attempt to come to grips with some of the thornier issues that have confronted immigration historians in the past decade: how to practice comparative history, how to reconcile historians' emphasis on nation-states with the transnationalism paradigm of social scientists, and how to make race and class meaningful analytical categories rather than tired clichs." -- Dorothee Schneider, author of Trade Unions and Community: The German Working Class in New York City, 1870-1900 "An important book located at the intersection of labor migration, workers' internationalism, and nation-building, Italian Workers of the World offers compelling portraits of courageous class-conscious workers and radical exiles negotiating both national and transnational identities. An inspiring model for international collaboration and transnational perspectives on historical practice, the book challenges us to rethink the connections between the building of national labor movements and international class solidarity." -- Franca Iacovetta, author of Enemies Within: Italians and Other Internees in Canada and Abroad

From the Inside Flap

"Marked by a rare coherence and clarity of vision, this elegant collection is a focused attempt to come to grips with some of the thornier issues that have confronted immigration historians in the past decade: how to practice comparative history, how to reconcile historians' emphasis on nation-states with the transnationalism paradigm of social scientists, and how to make race and class meaningful analytical categories rather than tired clichés." -- Dorothee Schneider, author of Trade Unions and Community: The German Working Class in New York City, 1870-1900

"An important book located at the intersection of labor migration, workers' internationalism, and nation-building, Italian Workers of the World offers compelling portraits of courageous class-conscious workers and radical exiles negotiating both national and transnational identities. An inspiring model for international collaboration and transnational perspectives on historical practice, the book challenges us to rethink the connections between the building of national labor movements and international class solidarity." -- Franca Iacovetta, author of Enemies Within: Italians and Other Internees in Canada and Abroad

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252026594
• ISBN-13: 978-0252026591
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,765,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Broad strokes study Italian workers worldwide, February 13, 2002

By 

Larry S. Bonura - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Workers of the World: Labor Migration and the Formation of Multiethnic States (Statue of Liberty Ellis Island) (Hardcover)

Italians, including Sardinians and Sicilians, left their homeland by the millions between the French Revolution and the onset of World War II. Roughly 20,000,000 Italian migrants, about 10% of all long-distance migrants during those years, left for newer, more profitable worlds. The vast majority of the Italian migrants were unskilled workers and peasants, street traders, and owners of small parcels of land. Their search for wages prompted temporary migration but scattered them more widely than most other European and Asian migrants of the era. About half of the Italian migrants found work in Europe, approximately a third traveled to North America, and a quarter went to South America, while small, but significant numbers also worked in Australia and in North and South Africa. Once abroad, the largest groups were men who worked in construction, mining, and industry, or in plantation or other forms of large-scale, commercial agriculture.

During the 19th century, the creation of new nations and international mass migrations progressed along with the development of new labor movements. Many of these movements were based on the notion that class transcended national boundaries, "workers of the world unite," where an Italian anarchist proclaimed "there are no frontiers." Whether they were "sent" or "received" migrants, Italian or non-Italian, the nation-state was challenged from below (by the regionalism or ethnic diversity of their populations) and from above (by class-conscious and consciously internationalist labor movements). During and after World War I, nation-states increasingly resolved this tension by pressuring migrants to increase commitment and loyalty to one nation.

This is a fascinating study of the Italian workers of the world and how they saw themselves as Italians, part of the international workers of the world, and as assimilated immigrants in their new countries and what impact that had on the formation of those nation-states and Italy. Eleven experts from various universities and research institutions contributed to this book. Two segments are about Italian nationalism in the age of exile and labor migration, 1789-1880. Five segments look at class, nation, and internationalism in an era of proletarian mass migration, 1870-1920. The last four segments look at antifascism as an international movement.

If you ever wanted to put the Italian-American (United States) immigrant movement in perspective, this book will certainly help.