The geography of migrations between causes, definitions and permanent identities. The case of Apulian Arbëria.

The term “immigration” is endowed with a very meaningful semantic charge: it not only expresses a physical shift and a change of a geographical scenario, but it is a socioeconomic phenomenon as well as a transfer of cultural reference models with a plurality of consequences for the emigrant subject and for the host communities. The causes of continuous displacements of populations from their place of origin to other destinations are the most varied, political, religious, and economic, and sometimes they are linked together. The case study considered is the Italian Arberia; a linguistic-cultural island present, today, only in some areas of central-southern Italy but with a very ancient history of difficult social integration. The purpose of the investigation is to understand the spread of the phenomenon and outline future prospects, through the examination of the most significant literature, historical documents and also a fieldwork through interviews with some representatives of the Apulian arbëreshë communities.