Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration Andintegration
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Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration andIntegration DYLAN RILEY AND REBECCA JEAN EMIGH* ABSTRACT The effect ofItalian colonialismon migration to Italy differedaccording to the pre-colonialsocial structure, afactor previouslyneglected byimmigration theories. In Eritrea,pre- colonialChristianity, sharp class distinctions,and a strong state promotedinteraction between colonizers andcolonized. Eritrean nationalismemerged against Ethiopia; thus, nosharp breakbetween Eritreans andItalians emerged.Two outgrowths ofcolonialism, the Eritrean nationalmovement andreligious ties,facilitate immigration and integration. In contrast, in Somalia,there was nostrong state, few class differences, the dominantreligion was Islam, andnationalists opposed Italian rule.Consequently, Somali developed few institutionalties to colonialauthorities and few institutionsprovided resources to immigrants.Thus, Somaliimmigrants are few andare not well integratedinto Italian society. * Direct allcorrespondence to Rebecca Jean Emigh, Department ofSociology, 264 HainesHall, Box 951551,Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551;e-mail: [email protected]. ucla.edu.We would like to thank Caroline Brettell, RogerWaldinger, and Roy Pateman for their helpfulcomments. ChaseLangford made the map.A versionof this paperwas presentedat the Tenth International Conference ofEuropeanists,March 1996.Grants from the Center forGerman andEuropean Studies at the University ofCalifornia,Berkeley and the UCLA FacultySenate supported this research. ComparativeSociology, Volume 1,issue 2 Ó 2002Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden 170 Riley &Emigh ² Introduction Italy wasa countryof emigration;now it isoneof immigration (King 1985; Melotti1985a, 1988). Italians generally classifyimmigrants as those from outsidethe EuropeanUnion (EU) ( extra-communitari )andthose from within (europei). The term, extra-communitari ,however,is not neutral, conveying the ideaof an “undesirable”person from Eastern Europe or Africa (Cole 1997; Ginsborg1998:121; Postiglione 1999). We gobeyond these stereotypes toconsider differences among non-European immigrants. We arguethat Eritreansare more integrated than Somali,despite a variety ofsimilar historicaland contemporary conditions (including a hostilesocial climate). Eritreancommunities are visible inItaliancities, especially inMilan around CorsoBuenos Aries and Porta Venezia. The same isnot true of Somali, whoare barely recognized as an immigrantgroup. To illustrateour point, weusea comparativemethodology. Theoretical Context Theoriesexplaining immigrationfocus on a widevariety ofmicro and macro-level processes,including geographical differences in the supply anddemand for labor, wage differentials, the internationaldivision of labor,the riseof global capitalism, or economic conditions of advanced capitalistsocieties (Massey et al.1993). Other theories draw on network theories,the conceptof migration chains, or institutionalist theories to demonstratehow immigration persists beyond initial conditions (Heisler 1992;Massey et al.1993; Morawska 1990; Rystand 1992;Salt 1992). Otherwork uses a historicalor world-systems perspective that includes the impactof colonialism (Chan 1990:48;Heisler 1992:630;Massey et al. 1993:444-448;Mesthrie 1993:25-27). We broadenthis theoretical literature to consider the effectsof pre- colonialsocial structure on subsequent immigration and integration. Althoughprevious work shows how human capital partially depends on colonialism– knowledgeof the languageor familiarity with a culture– the effectsof colonialism are more fundamental. Individuals are rarely passiveactors in socialevents, even when they areexploited or dominated (Scott1985). As Comaroff and Comaroff (1991) show, colonialism was an interactionalprocess that altered the very consciousnessof both colonizers andcolonized. We employthis perspective to consider the possibleeffects ofthe interactionbetween pre-colonial social structure and colonialism on immigrationand integration. Case Selection and Methodology We employa looseversion of Mill’ s methodof difference, with two cases,Eritrea and Somalia, that have differentoutcomes and share all butone antecedent, pre-colonial social structure. We considerthe effect Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration andIntegration 171 ² ofthe antecedent onthe outcome,immigration and integration in Italy (Emigh1997:651; Skocpol and Sommers 1980). Because ourtwo cases had acommonItalian colonial past and a commondestination, we diminishthe effectsof differences in colonial administration, as well asother economic differences,like laborsupply and demand, on immigration. We consider Eritreanmigrants, because they comprisea relatively largecomponent of the migrantpopulation in Italy (Aimi1985; Brambilla and Favaro 1984; King1985; Melotti 1988). We useSomali (as opposedto Libyans) because ofthe comparabilityof the Eritreanand Somali historical trajectory. Furthermore,as we show below, Somali and Eritrean immigration to Italy hadsimilar origins. We make nostrong claims that this method establishes causality.Our methodology and case selectionsimply “ holds constant”– atleast temporarilyin the analyticsense –all otherrelevant factorsthat explain immigrationto establishwhether pre-colonial structure, apreviouslyneglected factor,has an identiable effect on immigrationand integration. In Eritrea,three dimensionsof pre-colonial social structure were particularlyimportant: the interactionbetween the pre-colonialstate and the colonialadministration, the interactionbetween pre-colonial religion andmetropolitan religion, and the interactionbetween the pre-colonial classstructure and the colonialeconomy. Historical outgrowths of these institutionalconnections affected decisions to emigrate and provided immigrantsto Italy withaccess to resources.In contrast,these interactions didnot exist inSomalia.Consequently, there arefewer Somali immigrants inItaly andtheir experiences aredifferent. We explain twodimensions of the outcome,immigration: rst,its magnitude,and second, the degreeof immigrants’ incorporation. The available populationand immigration statistics suggest that the overall magnitudeof Eritrean immigration relative tothe sendingpopulation sizeis larger than Somaliimmigration. While the absolutemagnitude of Eritreanand Somali immigration varied from year toyear inresponse to warand famine, the absolutemagnitude of Somali immigration equaled Eritreanimmigration only inthe 1990sat the height ofthe Somalicivil war.Even then, given the muchlarger size of the Somaliethnic group inEast Africa relative tothe Eritreanone, the relative sizeof Eritrean immigrationwas much larger. In comparisonto Somali, Eritreans are well integratedinto Italian society. Eritreans are more likely tomarry Italiansthan Somaliand they aremore likely tocometo Italy tojoin their familiesor practice their religion. Furthermore, Eritreans, unlike Somali, have an organizedpresence in Italian society and have tiesto political movements. Beforeproviding the detailsof these outcomes,we lay outour historicalanalysis. 172 Riley &Emigh ² Pre-ColonialSomalia and Eritrea The pre-colonialsocial structures of Eritrea and Somalia were fundamen- tally different.First, in Eritrea,a relatively well-developedquasi-feudal class structurecross cut ethnic distinctions. The Italiansexploited these multiple divisions,making numerous alliances. In contrast,Somalia was a relatively egalitarianpastoral society organized into clans. The Italiansmade only afew,limited alliances withindividual clan heads.Second, in Eritrea, the Italiansfaced the threatof the strong,Ethiopian state across the border. Thus,they wereforced to make sweepingalliances toavoid Ethiopian invasion.Third, in Eritrea, there existed an indigenousChristianity. Fi- nally, Eritreannationalism opposed the Ethiopian,not the Italianstate. In contrast,in Somalia, nationalism grew up against Italian and British colonialism.Consequently, there wasnever asharppost-colonial political fracturebetween the colonyand the metropolein Eritrea,as there wasin Somalia.Because ofthese fourdifferences, the Eritreansentered intomore intensive relations– ofboth cooperation and resistance – withItalian colo- nialiststhan didthe Somali.We donot deny thatItalian colonialism was exploitative,racist, and violent. We do,however, suggest that the relation- shipbetween the indigenoussociety and the Italiancolonizers was more institutionallydense inEritrea than in Somalia, because of the natureof pre-colonialEritrea. Political Geography ofthe Hornof Africa Eritrea,Ethiopia, and Somalia (Figure 1) were not always constituted as sovereignstates. The name,Abyssinia, was used to designate geographical, ethnic,and social units in the Hornof Africa. Within this region, there wasan importantdistinction between the lowlandsand the highland plateau.Because ofthe numerousrivers on the highlandplateau, settled agriculturewas possible (Markakis 1987:8;McCann 1990:400-401). Within Abyssiniaand the nearbyby lowlandregions in contemporary Eritrea, there weremultiple ethnic, cultural, and linguistic divisions. In modern dayEritrea, Tigrinya is the mostcommon linguistic and ethnic group andthey live primarilyon the highplateau (Erlich 1983:1-14; Longrigg 1945:16-17;Markakis 1987:5-15;Pateman 1990:4-6). Most Tigrinya are CopticChristians, members of the Abyssinianor Ethiopian, or more recently, Eritrean,Orthodox Church (Pateman 1990:4-5). 1 What is now Somaliawas divided along geographical lines. In the north,Samaal- speakingpastoralists predominated (Rinehart 1982:9).In