Migrating and Settling in a Mobile World

This book draws on cross-generational research and compares the ethnic identities, transnational ties and integration pathways of Albanian migrants and Albanian-origin adolescents in three European cities: London, Thessaloniki and Florence. Greece, Italy and the UK are the three main European countries where Albanian migrants have settled during their short but intense migration experience of the past two decades. Building on some major social science and migration studies concepts, such as identity, integration and transnationalism, the book establishes links between these concepts and the newer developing theoretical and conceptual frameworks such as mobility, translocality and cosmopolitanism. It analyses these concepts in the context of migration by taking into account the process of intergenerational transmission and viewing mobility as an inherent characteristic of contemporary lives. One aspect that distinguishes this research from other studies on the second generation in Europe is that, whereas other research has focused on the second generation at an adult age, this book involves a new second generation, or a second generation in-the-making . By studying a settling immigrant group and their descendants, this book takes a proactive approach towards the integration of ethnic minorities. The book ends with a call for a reassessment of the term second generation , drawing attention to the essentialist focus on the children of migrants as a particular and homogeneous group. The findings ultimately show that the particularities of identification, integration and transnational ties of the children of migrants are affected by structural factors and are not inherently idiosyncratic to this group.