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A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details BOUNDARY-MAKING IN AN IMMIGRANT SOCIAL SPACE: ALBANIAN-ITALIAN AND ALBANIAN-ROMANIAN COUPLES IN ITALY RACHELE BEZZINI PhD in MIGRATION STUDIES Department of Geography School of Global Studies UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX October 2017 2 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ………………………………………………… 3 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX RACHELE BEZZINI PhD in MIGRATION STUDIES BOUNDARY-MAKING IN AN IMMIGRANT SOCIAL SPACE: ALBANIAN-ITALIAN AND ALBANIAN-ROMANIAN COUPLES IN ITALY SUMMARY This thesis focuses on Albanian-Italian and Albanian-Romanian couples in Italy. Through application of the boundary-making framework to integration and intermarriage, this study looks at the processes by which partners in mixed unions deal with socially constructed boundaries inside and outside the couple and family sphere. The thesis is based on multiple qualitative methods, but primarily on in-depth interviews with 61 Albanian-Italian/Romanian couples in Italy. These research-participant couples differ in terms of marital and family status, place of origin and settlement, education and occupation. The core sample is composed of an Albanian in-between generation, now in their 30s, who emigrated during adolescence for various reasons (asylum, family reunification, healthcare, study, work). Thence, I moved towards an Italian or a Romanian partner of these primary participants. The original contribution of my study is both empirical and theoretical. From an empirical point of view, it explores the topic of intermarriage, which has not been previously examined in the existing literatures on the Albanian and Romanian migrations and is still understudied in Italy. In addition to this, the study specifically takes into account the combination of minority- majority (Albanian-Italian) and minority-minority (Albanian-Romanian) partnerships and marriages, whose conjoint analysis has been largely absent in intermarriage research. From a theoretical point of view, my research shows instead the importance of adopting a relational approach in migration studies through the inclusion of a plurality of social actors within the research design. In fact, while intermarriage in immigrant societies is usually interpreted as an indicator/agent of integration and through the essentialisation of the category of culture, my thesis proposes a novel understanding of intermarriage. I view intermarriage as a site of integration, and I see integration as a multi-way process of boundary change, which involves the national majority as well as multiple immigrant minorities interacting with and identifying each other in the construction of a common social space. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors Prof Russell King and Dr Laura Moroşanu for their encouragement and guidance throughout my PhD. I am especially indebted to Prof King, who believed in my project from the beginning, and also in adverse circumstances. Without his support and understanding this research would have never been possible. I hope that this thesis has, to some extent, repaid his trust. I am grateful to the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, which funded my research project through a grant, gifting me with two years in which I could focus on fieldwork and writing-up. I am also grateful to Prof Marcello Carmagnani for his approval and endorsement in this period of time. I thank my examiners Dr Zana Vathi and Dr Katie Walsh for their comments and the opportunity to discuss my thesis at length. I also wish to acknowledge that especially the work carried out by Dr Vathi was a great source of inspiration for mine, from the very beginning. Many people helped me at different stages of this three-year PhD. I would like to single out some of them: Elida Cena, Gilles De Rapper, Dens Dimiņš, Fatos Dingo, Roland Gjoni, Ana-Cristina Irian, Maksim Makartsev, Siniša Malešević, Ioannis Manos, Jenny Money, Arta Nikaj, Anton Panchev, Marko Sindjić, and Dejan Stjepanović. I owe special thanks to the research participants and gatekeepers; without their help this thesis would basically not have existed. I thank all interviewees for their trust and for the stories that they shared with me. I hope that I have managed to transmit their viewpoints along with their memories, experiences and hopes, which I had the good fortune to collect. Finally, I must thank the late Prof Antonio Melis, who was my reference point during my BA and MA studies, and to whom unfortunately I was not able to show this thesis in time. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 Rationale 8 1.2 Research topic 10 1.3 Research questions 13 1.4 Thesis outline 16 Chapter 2. THEORIES 21 Introduction 21 2.1 Ethnic boundaries 24 2.1.1 From ethnicity to ethnic boundary-making 24 2.1.2 Integration as boundary-making 27 2.1.3 Intermarriage as boundary-making 29 2.2 Integration 31 2.2.1 Integration 31 2.2.2 Assimilation 34 2.2.3 Multiculturalism 37 2.2.4 Mixity 39 2.3 Intermarriage 41 2.3.1 Intermarriage 41 2.3.2 Patterns of intermarriage 43 2.3.3 Meanings of mixed marriage 46 Conclusion 50 Chapter 3. METHODS 53 Introduction 53 3.1 Methodology 54 3.1.1 Epistemology 54 3.1.2 Sociological ethnography 56 3.2 Sampling and setting 58 3.2.1 Sample 58 3.2.2 Setting 61 3.2.3 Banns of marriage 66 3.2.4 Facebook 67 3.2.5 Snowball technique 68 3.3 Data collection and data analysis methods 69 3.3.1 Interviews 69 3.3.2 Photo-elicitation 74 3.3.3 Participant observation 76 3.3.4 Grounded theory 79 3.4 Ethics and reflexivity 80 3.4.1 Ethics 80 3.4.2 Reflexivity 81 Chapter 4. CONTEXT 87 Introduction 87 4.1 Immigration and integration in Italy 88 4.2 A brief overview of the Albanian migration 93 4.3 A brief overview of the Romanian migration 100 4.4 Albanian and Romanian integration in Italy 105 Conclusion 112 6 Chapter 5. MIXEDNESS THROUGH AN ETIC LENS 115 Introduction 115 5.1 Applying the boundary-making framework to the construction of an immigrant social space: Albanians, Italians, and Romanians 116 5.1.1 Shifting 116 5.1.2 Crossing 119 5.1.3 Blurring 124 5.2 Albanian-Italian/Romanian partnerships and marriages as sites of boundary reconstruction 128 5.2.1 Redefinition 129 5.2.2 Repositioning 133 5.2.3 Resemantisation 135 Conclusion 140 Chapter 6. MIXEDNESS THROUGH AN EMIC LENS: ENCOUNTER AND COHABITATION 143 Introduction 143 6.1 Couple formation 144 6.1.1 The encounter with the partner 144 6.1.2 The encounter with the partner’s family and between the two families 152 6.1.3 The wedding 159 6.2 Cohabitation 166 6.2.1 Household 166 6.2.2 House-chores 172 6.2.3 Cuisine 174 Conclusion 179 Chapter 7. MIXEDNESS THROUGH AN EMIC LENS: FAMILY FORMATION AND BEYOND 181 Introduction 181 7.1 Family formation 182 7.1.1 Naming 182 7.1.2 Religion 189 7.1.3 Language 195 7.1.4 Citizenship 205 7.2 Configurations of mixedness 210 7.2.1 Nationality 210 7.2.2 Religion 215 7.2.3 Education 216 7.2.4 Cosmopolitanism 219 Conclusion 224 Chapter 8. CONCLUSION 227 8.1 Catching up 227 8.2 Taking stock of the situation 230 8.3 Moving forward 236 REFERENCES 242 APPENDIX 256 List of participants 1. Age, years in Italy, marital/family status 256 List of participants 2. Occupation 257 7 LIST OF FIELDNOTES Fieldnotes 1. Corpus Domini Fieldnotes 2. An Albanian-Italian wedding Fieldnotes 3. Tanush & Monica Fieldnotes 4. UEFA Euro 2016 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Resident population in the fieldwork area Table 2. Albanian and Romanian resident population at national and regional level Table 3. Foreign resident population in Italy – Top 10 Countries of Citizenship Table 4. Marriages between Italian and foreign citizens in Italy Table 5. Marriages between foreign citizens in Italy (at least one spouse resides in Italy) Table 6. Albanian-Italian and Albanian-Romanian marriages in Italy Table 7. Albanian-Italian children born in Italy LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Snowglobe from Krujë, Albania Figure 2. Theoretical framework Figure 3. Integration and intermarriage as boundary-making Figure 4. Couples Figure 5. Interviews Figure 6. Participants Figure 7. Map Figure 8. The field Figure 9. Street in Florence Figure 10. Village in the province of Prato Figure 11. Countryside in the province of Pisa Figure 12. Albanian-Romanian child Figure 13. Albanian-language mass and leaflet Figure 14. Albanian migration Figure 15. Italian migration Figure 16. Albanian flag Figure 17. Albanian rug Figure 18. Xhezve (i.e. pot for making Turkish coffee) among mugs Figure 19. Belt of an Albanian participant’s grandfather, from the Italian invasion of Albania in the Second World War to an Albanian-Italian household three generations later Figure 20. Ottoman heritage from the Italian diaspora to Greece Figure 21. Painting of Florence made by the father of an Albanian participant Figure 22.