Montreal's Italians and the Socio-Economy of Settlement, 1900-1930: Some Historical Hypotheses

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Montreal's Italians and the Socio-Economy of Settlement, 1900-1930: Some Historical Hypotheses
Abstract
The author notes that as the pattern of Italian immigration to Montreal changed over the first two decades of the twentieth century from one made up predominantly of sojourners to one of permanent settlement, important changes occurred both in the composition of that immigrant population (sex ratio, age structure, etc.) and in its internal organization (residential patterns, kinship, and paese-based network). These changes, he points out, made possible the enactment of familial economic strategies characterised by the use of extra-market resources (production of goods and services for an individual’s or family’s own consumption, or for exchange with goods and services of friends, but without the direct mediation of money) to complement the means of life deriving from earnings. The author explains that though the magnitude of this practice escapes precise quantification, its occurrence seems to have been so widespread among Italian immigrants as to constitute a socio-economic subsystem existing alongside the official market system. Moreover, he maintains, in this sphere of economic behavior, Italian immigrants enjoyed a greater autonomy in their use of time and space and thus could more freely resort to their cultural values as an important resource for their adaptive strategies.
Publication
Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine
Volume
Vol. 10
Issue
no. 1
Pages
39-48
Date
June 1981
Language
en
URL
Citation
Ramirez, Bruno. “Montreal’s Italians and the Socio-Economy of Settlement, 1900-1930: Some Historical Hypotheses.” Urban History Review / Revue d’histoire urbaine Vol. 10, no. 1 (June 1981): 39–48. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/uhr/1981-v10-n1-uhr0875/1019155ar.pdf.
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