Diasporic youth identities of uncertainty and hope: second-generation Albanian experiences of transnational mobility in an era of economic crisis in Greece

ABSTRACT

This paper explores various dimensions of ‘gender’ and ‘mobility’ among immigrant youth from a transnational perspective in an era of economic crisis. The extent and parameters of continuity, contestation and change in migrant youth identities are analysed and we suggest that neither gender nor identity are stable categories but are embedded in sociocultural particularities both in the country of residence (Greece) but also in the country of origin (Albania). Through in-depth interviews with 52 participants, all second-generation Albanian immigrants in Greece born to two Albanian parents, the paper addresses youth identification in relation to gendered representations of belonging. The narrative accounts that we have selected and analysed reflect the emotional challenges, constraints and creativity of Albanian youth.

KEYWORDS:

• Albania
• Greece
• mobility
• youth identities
• gender
• economic crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Eurostat News Release Euro indicators 52/2014, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-01042014-AP/EN/3-01042014-AP-EN.PDF (Accessed November 15, 2014).

2. Youth Unemployment, Eurostat News Release Euroindicators 52/2014, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-01042014-AP/EN/3-01042014-AP-EN.PDF (Accessed November 15, 2014).

3. The World Bank (2014). Indicators, GDP per capita, (current US$), http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD (Accessed November 16, 2014).

4. In March 2010, the Greek Parliament adopted Law No. 3838/2010 on citizenship and naturalisation, introducing for the first time a substantial element of jus soli into the concept of Greek citizenship. In December 2012, this law was overruled as anti-constitutional by the Greek Supreme Administrative Court, on the basis that it conflicts with the constitutionally circumscribed jus sanguinis principle.

5. For an insightful discussion on development, the economic crisis and the role of the diaspora in contributing to Greece at present refer to Mavroudi (2015) for recent research in Australia on the Greek-Australian case. For explorations of the Greek-Danish as well as Greek-American and Greek-German case, refer to Christou (2011) and Christou and King (2014), respectively.