La grande migrazione interna: nuovi strumenti e vecchi paradigmi

The great internal migration: new analysis and old paradigms
Internal migrations in post war Italy have played a crucial role in shaping Italian society and economy. In particular, the great internal migration during the economic boom in the 50s and 60s registered the highest mobility rates in Italian migration history. Nonetheless, historians and sociologists are still lacking to study this very complex and multifaceted phenomenon with deep and fine-grained analysis. The essay is focused on a recent monograph on this issue: Nazareno Panichella, Meridionali al Nord. Migrazioni interne e società italiana dal dopoguerra ad oggi (Southern immigrants in Northern regions. Internal migrations and Italian society since the war). The author has worked out data of a rich survey on 11.000 persons (Indagine longitudinale sulle famiglie italiane: Longitudinal Survey on Italian Families) with the Event History Analysis, and presents some empirical evidences. There are shadows and lights in the Panichella’s monograph: the essay underlines both the convincing results, which appear innovative and useful for further researches, and the weaker parts of the book, which reveal the survival of some old paradigms of the «questione meridionale» (the Southern question).
Keywords: Social history of Italy; Internal migration; Southern question; Event History Analysis