Je suis un Italien de Paris: Italian migrants’ incorporation in a European capital city

ABSTRACT

Italy has experienced a new wave of population outflows, in particular since the end of the 2000s, with France as one of the top destinations. This paper investigates the structural and socio-cultural integration of Italian migrants in Paris. The paper is based on a mixed-methods approach, using in-depth interviews, census data and an online survey. We found that the profile and incorporation patterns of post-crisis migrants reflects a long-term trend of middling migration out of Italy. Similar to other studies, we show that current Italian migrants are prevailingly highly skilled and employed in non-manual jobs. As for socio-cultural integration, the paper highlights the symbolic value of the host city, to which migrants are strongly attached. Moreover, the longer the Italian’s stay in Paris, the higher his/her integration in Italy-oriented activities, both within Paris and in Italy. This indicates a complex incorporation model that is at odds with assimilation but at the same time departs from ethnicised and community-based patterns. Italian migrants combine being both Parisian and Italian in a ‘synergistic balancing act’ (Erdal and Oeppen 2013. ‘Migrant Balancing Acts: Understanding the Interactions between Integration and Transnationalism.’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39 (6):867–884.) of integration and transnationalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• urban integration
• transnationalism
• Italian migrants
• Paris
• skilled migration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The questionnaire can be found online at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1udgN6t1YpU4eGX65fwHZBHcn_GybxdgeSMiDjqdmMhE/viewform.

2. While Italian migration to France had remained roughly stable in the preceding two decades, fluctuating between 3000 and 4000 entries per year, it started to increase after the Euro-crisis (5000 new Italian residents were registered in 2011). Our online survey confirms this trend: 70% of respondents arrived in the French capital after 2008, showing a clear “crisis effect” in terms of numbers.

3. This proportion might have been boosted by our sampling strategy, which used the web to recruit respondents.

4. Research on the social life of different occupational groups in Paris shows a neat split between on the one hand private sector executives and the professions, and on the other public sector executives, teachers, and workers of creative industries (Préteceille 2006). We capitalise on this insight to distinguish two fractions of the upper class.

5. The survey included a number of open-ended questions, one of which asked respondents to mention (with a free format) the three most significant “places” of their life. Almost everyone (97%) cited some Italian location (normally a city or village). More variance emerged in the quote of “Paris” (or a Parisian area: for instance, Montmartre) or a “third country place” (for instance, London or Brazil). Paris was mentioned by 73.6% and a third country place by 45.6% of respondents.