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

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Montreal's Italians and the Socio-Economy of Settlement: Some Historical Hypotheses
Abstract
An analysis of the socio-economic effects on Montreal's Italian community between 1900 and 1930 of the change from sojourner immigrants to permanent settlers. The author points out that as the pattern of Italian immigration to Montreal changed, 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 made possible the enactment of familial economic strategies characterised by the use of extra-market resources to compliment the means of life derived 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, the author contends that 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: 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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