Networks beyond nationalities? Relationships amongst Eastern European women workers in Italy facing the economic crisis

ABSTRACT

This article explores the intricate relationship between Georgian, Ukrainian and Polish women working as live-in elderly caregivers in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Their case shows how both elements of competition and of support can articulate the relationship between national groups that, on the one side, have in common some cultural, linguistic and historical legacies, but, on the other, have a different legal status in the European Union and positions in the Italian labour market for elderly care. In so doing, this article contributes to the debate on migrants’ social networks by pointing to the necessity of further exploring the boundaries that define people’s participation to the same circle of contacts and relationships that constitute their network of reference. From the analysis of 36 in-depth interviews with women of these nationalities, the article shows how the three groups have overlapped through time in the same Italian areas and how they have emulated each other in their migratory trajectories as well as in their employment strategies in the elderly care sector, but it will also underline how in some cases they have competed and been divided, especially beginning in 2008 as a consequence of the economic crisis.

KEYWORDS:

• Georgia
• Ukraine
• Poland
• Italy
• home-care
• migration
• social networks

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Interview material has been collected by the author during the research project ‘Circular Care’ (n. 272146) supported by a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme.

2. Cf. Satta (2015) for a similar study on the Padua's area.

3. There is an ample body of scholarly literature on Eastern European domestic and care workers migrants in Western Europe. Focusing on Italy as destination country, most of these studies illustrate the case of Ukrainian women (Näre 2007; Vianello 2009, 2013; Fedyuk 2011; Solari 2010), and often in comparison with Romanians or Moldovans (Mazzacurati 2005; Piperno 2007; Vietti 2010). For Italy, academic publications on Polish migrants are fewer (Triandafyllidou and Kosic 2006; Pelliccia 2012; D'Ottavio 2005; Spanò and Zaccaria 2003) whilst, in my knowledge, non-existing yet for the case of Georgians.

4. On the importance of Naples as the first place of arrivals for Poles and Ukrainians, see Vianello (2009), Mazzacurati (2005), and Spanò and Zaccaria (2003).

5. See the annual report of R.E.T.E. about the nationality and numbers of people visiting their offices during the year 2011 (just before the beginning of my research).

6. Data from internal report prepared by Savino Calabrese on the nationality and numbers of people that had used the job-placement service provided by local authorities during the year 2011 (just before the beginning of my research).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by FP7-People framework program [grant number 272146].