Contextualizing Changes: Migrations, Shifting ...

tnologii emii Nauk

Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Institute Institute of ArchaEology and Ethnology of Polish Archaeology and Ethnology Academy of Science Polish Academy of Sciences

Contextualizing Changes: Migrations, Shifting Borders and New Identities in Eastern Europe

Sofia 2015

This edition is published with the assistance of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Editors: Petko Hristov, Anelia Kassabova, Evgenia Troeva, Dagnosław Demski Language Editing: Violeta Periklieva and Cynthia Lintz ©Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum – BAS ©Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology – PAS © Cover design: Yana Gergova © Paradigma Ltd. 2015 ISBN 978-954-326-261-8

Acknowledgements First of all, we would like to thank all the participants. The Conference and the succeeding collection wouldn’t have been possible without their active contribution which helped creating an atmosphere of constructive debates at the conference and made this volume worth reading. We are grateful to the Bulgarian Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science and to the Ministry itself for their financial support. Without this funding the organization of the conference and the meeting of scholars through state and disciplinary borders wouldn’t have been possible. We also pay our gratitude to the Embassy of Austria in Sofia for actively supporting the conference and financing the exhibition of Robert Pichler “Staging the Nation. ‘Skopje 2014’ and the Claim for Recognition” which was one of the additional events to the conference. What is worth stressing is the Bulgarian-Polish cooperation. We would like to thank the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences for supporting the conference as well as the publishing of this volume. We would like to show our gratitude to all colleagues who helped organizing the conference and preparing the volume, specifically to Ivaylo Markov, Violeta Periklieva and Mina Hristova whose assistance was invaluable. We express our deep gratitude to Violeta Periklieva and Cynthia Lintz for the language editing and ensuring consistency of style throughout this collection. Last but not least, we would like to thank Paradigma Publishing House for helping realize this edition.

Contents Introduction...................................................................................................................... 9 Part I ■ Visualisation, Symbolic Borders and Constructing Identity Visualizing the Balkans: the Balkan Wars, the Great War and Visual Modernity................................................. 13 Karl Kaser Portraits and Borders: Early Photographic Portraiture in Bulgaria (1860-1910) and the Construction of Social and Gender Identities.............................. 28 Anelia Kassabova Going-Beyond to Evoke the Other. The Balkans and the Polish Imagination............... 49 Dagnosław Demski Shifting Symbolic Boundaries: Re-enacting Nazi Troops in Contemporary Poland.... 62 Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska Staging the Nation: ‘Skopje 2014’ and the Claim for Recognition................................. 72 Robert Pichler Part II ■ Migration and (New) Identities Contextualizing the Migratory Shift: from “Gurbet” toward “Family Migration”: The Case of the Albanians from Macedonia................................................................... 87 Ivaylo Markov Towards a Concept of Migration-Homeland-Culture (Case Study of Post-War Bulgarian Migrations to Australia)........................................ 99 Elya Tzaneva Conceptualisation of Turkish Labour Migration in Western European Studies......... 111 Valentina Sharlanova Contexts and Subtexts: Motivational Models for Emigration towards Central Europe.............................................................................................................. 121 Vladimir Penchev Shifting Borders, Refugees and New Identities: the Case of the Tsvarkovi Family from Golloborda Region, Albania.......................... 129 Veselka Toncheva 5

Contextualizing Changes: Migrations, Shifting Borders and New Identities in Eastern Europe

Migration Strategies and Malleable Identities among Bulgarian Youths in the Odessa District.................................................................................................... 140 Petko Hristov Contemporary Migration of Bulgarians to Northeast England: Representations and Responses.................................................................................... 157 Gergina Pavlova-Hannam Bulgarian Migration to England – the Influential Power of the Imaginary West....... 169 Polina Manolova bulgarian Stories about Immigration and settlement in great britain...................... 180 Mila Maeva Crossing Boundaries and Identities “On the Road”: The Case of the Youth Short-Term Labour Migration in the Framework of the Program for Cultural Exchange “Work and Travel USA”............................................................ 191 Zlatina Bogdanova Part III ■ Religions, cultures, identities Migration and Religious Place-Making in a Changing Europe .................................. 205 John Eade Symbolizing Religious Boundaries and Identities....................................................... 216 Evgenia Troeva ”The Rhodope Mountains Are a Fortress to Be Conquered” ...................................... 231 Velislav Altanov Local Cult, Migration and Identity: The Veneration of St. Zone on Both Sides of the Bulgarian-Greek Border..................................................................................... 244 Vihra Baeva The Cult of Our Lady of Lourdes – Different Levels of Identity Construction of the Bulgarian Catholics in the Town of Rakovski............................. 257 Violeta Periklieva Celebration of St. St. Cyril and Methodius by the Bulgarian Community in Warsaw, Poland......................................................................................................... 267 Tsvetelina Dimitrova Bulgarian Karakachans and Re-Domestication of Religion: Migration, House and Bread......................................................................................... 279 Gabriela Fatková

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Contents

Part IV ■ Communities, Borders and Cultures To the Problem of Identification, Folk Traditions and Borderland in Southern Ukraine...................................................................................................... 293 Larysa Vakhnina Folklore as a Factor of Ethnic Identity of Bulgarians in Ukraine................................ 304 Iryna Ogiyenko Identity Formation of Young Chechen Refugees in Poland in the Face of Foreign Cultures..................................................................................... 315 Katarzyna Kość-Ryżko Ethnicity in Light of Realism: the 19th and the 20th Centuries..................................... 330 Snizhana Zhygun Identity Dynamics among Bulgarian-Ukrainians Living in Bulgaria in the 21st Century......................................................................................................... 343 Tanya Matanova Formation of the Identity of the New Ukrainian Community in Bulgaria................. 355 Antonina Iakimova Megleno-Romanians in Serbia – Shifting Borders, Shifting Identity.......................... 365 Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković, Mircea Măran Functions and Significance of the Cultural-Educational Organization of the Karakachans in Bulgaria: Between Identity and Mobility................................. 379 Nacho Dimitrov The Historical Roots of the Balkan Fairytale............................................................... 389 Borislava Petkova The “Polish Wild West”: Forced Migration and Cultural Appropriation of the Oder Region after 1945....................................................................................... 400 Beata Halicka Aliens among Natives: Authenticity, Repatriates and the Boundaries of Cultural Citizenship in Modern Kazakhstan........................................................... 409 Irina Popravko Civilization paradox: Bulgaria – Europe. Parallel of Identities: Cultural Profile since the Beginning of the 20th Century and Social Processes in the 21st Century in Bulgaria...................................................................................... 421 Miroslava Kortenska

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Part V ■ Shifting Borders and Changing Identity Reassessing Ethnic Identity in the Pre-National Balkans............................................ 433 Raymond Detrez Perceptions of a New European Identity along the E.U. Border Tales from Bulgaria and Macedonia................................................................. 443 Cynthia Lintz Hidden Identities in Southeast Europe Aromanians in Romania............................................................................................... 455 Stelu Șerban Towns and Migration – Urban Spaces and Shifting Borders....................................... 477 Meglena Zlatkova Internal Migration and Industrialization during Socialism and Crossing the Border from Regional to National (or Vice Versa?): Relationship between Fellow Countrymen (Zemlyatsi) as a Strategy and Practice in the Metallurgical Plant “Kremikovtsi” ................................................................... 489 Bilyana Raeva Migrations, Shifting Borders and Identities in the Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), Montenegro................................................................................................................... 501 Marijeta Rajković Iveta Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Everyday Life in the Context of the Cross-Border Region: the Thrace Region............................................................................................ 515 Valentina Ganeva-Raycheva Identity and Boundary Setting of the Bulgarian Catholics in the Vicinity of Bucharest........................................................................................... 531 Valentina Vasseva Identity, Shifting Borders and Migration: Everyday Experiences among Bulgarian Muslims in the Shumen and Razgrad Regions ................................................................... 541 Ivelina Eftimova Comparative Research on Calendar Rites on Both Sides of the Macedonian-Bulgarian border........................................................................... 552 Zorancho Malinov Shifting Borders, Creating New Identities - New Concepts of History....................... 561 Mina Hristova Regional Identity and the Nation States: Istrian Identity – Between the ‘Centre’ and the ‘Periphery’...................................................................... 573 Karmen Medica

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Contextualizing the Migratory Shift: from “Gurbet” toward “Family Migration”: The Case of the Albanians from Macedonia Ivaylo Markov

Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract: For more than four decades (since the end of the 1960s), the Albanian population in the Republic of Macedonia has been intensively migrating to West-European countries in search of better livelihoods and living conditions. Due to certain historical circumstances and social dynamics, the nature and characteristic of their migration patterns have shifted. Initially, migrants were men and migration followed the temporary -gurbet model, which had been present in the Balkans for centuries. Under the gurbet system, the men sent all the money they saved back to their families in Macedonia. Thus, they established and maintained strong economical and social transnational practices oriented towards their villages of origin. During the 1980s and especially the 1990s, many Albanian migrants began taking their families to the host countries. Gradually, women and children became involved in the migratory processes. Living abroad with the family changed the migrants’ priorities: the focus of transnational practices turned towards integration into the new surroundings and earning enough to provide for the nuclear family abroad, while remitting money to villages of origin receded into the background. It is significant that during the last three decades “family migration” exists simultaneously with migration of single men. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork materials collected by the author, two main categories of migratory experience and narratives can be distinguished. The first one refers to the temporary migrants and/or the migrants who have been abroad without their wives and children, but have returned or plan to return to their places of origin. The second category refers to those who have settled abroad with their wives and have raised their children and grandchildren there. The main aim of the paper is to critically examine these two different narratives and stories about migratory experience, migrants’ attitudes towards the place of origin, and the perceptions of the location of “home”. Key words: Gurbet, family migration, transnationalism, remittances

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Introduction. A brief history of the migrations of Albanians from Macedonia For more than four decades, the Albanian population in the Republic of Macedonia has been intensively migrating to West-European countries in search of better livelihoods and living conditions. Due to certain historical circumstances and social dynamics, the nature and characteristic of their migration patterns have shifted. The Second World War and its aftermath proved to be a turning point in the process of labour migrations from Macedonia. Macedonia was proclaimed a republic within the frame of the newly-established Socialist Yugoslavian Federation. During the 1950s, a large-scale project on socialist modernization and industrialization started (Rossos 2008: 244-248). A significant portion of the Macedonian Slav population left their villages and settled in closer or more distant towns with their families. At that time, however, Albanians in the Federation (and in Macedonia1) were under strong economic and political pressure and they did not enjoy equal opportunities to participate in the Yugoslavian modernization project. At the same time, they were less eager to become part of it (Brunnbauer 2004: 581-583; Pichler 2009: 217–18). In contrast to the intensive migrations of Macedonian Slav population from villages to towns as “socialist workers” in state factories and enterprises, the majority of Albanians remained in their native villages. Even when some of them moved to the towns in Macedonia and other parts of the Yugoslavian Federation, the Albanians were not involved in these internal migrations in the same manner and to the same extent as the Macedonian Slav population. The Albanian migration consisted of either a short distance shuttle movement or seasonal male migration, which followed gurbet patterns known for centuries throughout the Balkans: usually the Albanian worker travelled back and forth to the town on a daily/weekly basis or returned to the village, where his family lived, at the end of the working season (Mirchevska 2010: 213). Since the end of the 1960s, with the signing of official labour force recruitment agreements between the Yugoslavian Government and some West-European states, the Federation became a very active participant in the guest-worker programmes of post-war Europe. As Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Part of them was concentrated in the autonomous regions of Kosovo and Metohija within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, whereas another significant part was under the administrative authority of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

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remained the most economically underdeveloped areas in Yugoslavia, the government directed its new migratory policy particularly toward these regions (Dimova 2007: 2–3). As a result, Macedonia experienced a large-scale emigration of mostly unskilled workers. Many of them were Albanians who started seeking a better livelihood by working abroad. Over the course of time, migratory movements among the Albanians from Macedonia increased and became a mass phenomenon. In fact, all villages populated with Albanians sent young men as temporary workers abroad – the main destinations were Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. During the first two decades, Albanian labour migrants from the region were exclusively men and the movements once again followed, broadly, the gurbet patterns. Contrary to many expectations, and despite the economic recession after the 1973 oil crisis, relatively few Albanian migrants returned and many ended up settling in the countries they worked. During the next decades, the process of family reunion gradually accelerated. The unfavourable political and economic prospects, first in Yugoslavia and after that in the independent Republic of Macedonia, along with the discontinuation of the “return to Europe option” because of increasingly restrictive immigration policies, were the reasons why many migrants decided to stay in Europe. Thus, during the 1980s and especially the 1990s, many Albanian migrants began bringing their families to the host country. Besides, since the mid1990s, the family formation2 became a major source of new Albanian migration from Macedonia. Gradually, the number of women, and consequently the number of children born and raised abroad, increased. It is significant that during the last three decades such “family migrations” existed simultaneously with the migration of single men. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork materials collected by the author, two main categories of migratory experience and narratives can be distinguished. The first one refers to the temporary migrants and/or the migrants who have been abroad without their wives and children, but who have returned or plan to return to their places of origin. The second category refers to those who have settled abroad with their wives and have raised their children and grandchildren there. The main aim of the paper is to critically examine these two different narratives and stories 2 Family formation migration occurs when someone settles in the respective host country as a result of marriage or cohabitation with a partner already living there. Because even today the endogamous marriages remain strong tradition among Albanians, there are many cases when a boy born or raised abroad marries a girl from Macedonia, and vice versa.

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about migratory experience, migrants’ attitudes toward the place of origin, and the perceptions of the location of “home”.

Methodological notes The paper draws on ethnographic primary data, collected during my doctoral dissertation, Contemporary labour migrations of Albanians from Macedonia3. Four field research sessions, 10–15 days each, were carried out in 2008–2011 in selected Albanian villages situated in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia (in the regions of Skopje, Tetovo and Struga), as well as several shorter, occasional fieldwork trips. The main tool for gathering information was the ethnographic interview. A set of 35 interviews with 43 interlocutors were conducted4. A formal questionnaire consisting of open questions was used. The main aim of these basic questions was to shed light on some fundamental subjects. Otherwise, I let my respondents talk about topics they themselves considered important. Most of the interviews were a combination of semi-structured and biographical (life history) narratives. Life stories are an important instrument in studying processes, social changes and everyday life, especially in the cases when the archives are incomplete or missing (Thompson 1978). They allow us to observe the changes in the cultural and social experience of the individuals, in their points of view and daily cultural practices, and in the meanings people put into their actions (Roberts 2002: 21). This approach takes into consideration the fact that life histories are subjective, but yet valuable since they reveal the respondents’ opinions, dispositions and attitudes (Lieblick, Tuval-Maschiach and Zilber 1998). At the same time, the respondents’ “versions” are juxtaposed to information from other secondary sources, statistical data and scientific interpretations. The age range of my respondents was between 18 and 75 years, most of them having attended primary and secondary school, and a few having higher education degrees. Almost all of my interviewees were men, except for three Albanian women. This fact is a very good reflection of the patriarchal context of the society in Western Macedonia, within which young unmarried men, such as myself, are only allowed access to men’s spaces. Even the three interviews with women were conducted in

3 The dissertation was successfully defended at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum (IEFSEM) in Sofia, on July 18, 2011. 4 In addition, the research benefited from several informal conversations in the locations studied.

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the presence of their male companions – either a husband or a friend – with whom I had established close relationships.

The gurbet model As previously mentioned, migration abroad among the Albanian population from Western Macedonia became a widespread phenomenon since the second half of the 1960s (Pichler 2009; Markov 2010: 275-276). Although each receiving European country pursued its own migratory policy, there were several common elements. The recruitment of workers, the working conditions, and the social insurance were regulated by bilateral agreements mentioned above. Migrants were guest-workers (or according to the commonly accepted German term “Gastarbeiter”). They were considered temporary labourers, who worked for a limited period of time according to residence and labour permits (which were often valid for specific jobs and areas) and afterwards returned to their home countries. If there was still need for a labour force, new workers could come. Entry of dependants was strongly restricted. In summary, West European states tried to “import labor but not people” (Castles and Miller 2003: 71-72). Under these structural conditions, the first Albanian migrants coming from Macedonia were men only, who departed under the bilateral arrangements: “You see, the first [migrants] left in 1967-68 through the employment office. Then they went to Germany, the first went in 1967. Seven-eight years later Switzerland and Austria opened themselves, but the first workers with legal papers went to Germany.” (M, born 1962, worked in Switzerland [1979-1986], lives in Zhelino, near Tetovo). The causes and motives the respondents pointed out were various, but they can be reduced to two main groups – political and economic. One common motivation was the economic strife, how to earn enough to maintain the basic means of living and improve the household living standard. Before leaving their home villages, almost all of my respondents, who were part of the first wave of migrants, lived in extended family households. A large number of them were already married and some had children; however, none of the first wave of migrants initially migrated together with their family. The migrants’ wives and children stayed behind and were taken care of by the husbands’ parents, unmarried brothers or sisters, living in the most cases together in extended rural families5. 5 Women took care of raising the children but all the decisions concerning marriage, education, visiting relatives, taking part in rituals and any activities that could affect the family prestige were

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Ideally, when an Albanian man went abroad to work, he did not go ‘for himself ’, but to improve the living conditions of his entire household (Reineck 1991: 143). The aim of the workers abroad was to spend a certain period of time in the host country and earn enough money necessary for a new beginning for them and their families, after returning home. In order to save money, migrants lived in modest socio-economic conditions. Often 7 to 10 workers lived together in a small flat and divided the rent. Many of them worked overtime and even during the weekends, to double their daily wages. Migrants restrained their consumption to a minimum. They shopped at discount stores, avoided pubs or restaurants, and spent money only for the barest necessaries. As suggested by Bashkim Iseni in the case of the Kosovar Albanians in Switzerland, during the early stage of migration, migrants “lived on the margins of the host country, leading a parallel social life to its mainstream populations” (Iseni 2013: 231). The point of reference of Albanian male migrants was their places of origin and their families living there relying on their economical support. Money earned abroad was regularly sent to the relatives for covering primary vital needs – food, medicine, clothing, and housing. Only a small part was invested in production activities. In connection to the rapidly growing population, an important priority for many families was also the expansion of living space – they purchased land and bought agricultural machinery, built new family houses, improved the overall infrastructure of the place of origin (Markov 2013: 251-255). Often considerable resources were expended on community rituals such as weddings (see Pichler 2010) or circumcisions. Money was also sent to the male head of the household, who was in charge of controlling the finances. Thus, the migration of one or more household members to Europe functioned as income insurance for the family household: “Then [1970s] there was a huge family, probably about 30 people. Uncle, cousins, brothers – all of them under the same roof […] We, my brothers and I, went abroad in order to earn money. And when we came back each of us gave our earnings to the father. The oldest man held the money. It didn’t matter that I was the one earning it – he was the one taking it. He was taking care of our children – deciding

prerogatives of the head of the household. The women and children of the men abroad were very cautious about their behaviour in order to maintain their unblemished reputation. They were put under close scrutiny by the local community and were expected to be quite humble and modest in their actions. This behaviour was required in order to guarantee the honour of both the man working abroad and the extended family (Reineck 1991: 135).

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whether to go to school or work. He was the chief; he kept the business accounts” (M, born in 1944, worked in Germany, lives as a pensioner in Dologozhda, near Struga). The model of gurbet exists even today and some of my respondents still think that wives and children should stay in the place of origin. From a material point of view, remittances have enabled women and children left behind to live in much better conditions than their neighbours who cannot rely on such resources. At the same time, this is also a less expensive option than taking the family abroad, a process which would incur higher expenses, especially when this extra money can be saved for the future return home: “If you want to work and save up some money – you can’t do that with your family along. There is no chance. If you live with four other men in the same lodging your expenses will be lower, since you will share the rent, so you will be earning more. This was how I lived – with two other men – one from Kosovo, one from Albania. It was very good, because I had the opportunity to save up 20,000 euro. My brother, for example, has his family along and his monthly wage is 3,000 euro, and is barely saving up 2,000 euro for a whole year” (M, born in 1979, worked in Italy [2004-2007], lives in Skopje). The second set of factors is socio-cultural in nature. According to the opinion of such migrants (single men), women and children should stay away from the “immoral” Western world. They think that the women’s honour is more difficult to be protected abroad and this also threatens their own honour. Fear of assimilation in host societies is presented as the strongest reason when it comes to the children, who are thought to be at risk of losing their Albanian identity, language and culture. “While I was in Austria, I met some people who had been there since 1968. Until 1980, they had been alone. Then they had decided to take their family with them. I saw their grandchildren – they spoke German, even among themselves. They did not speak their mother tongue. That’s why I did not want to take my children along with me” (M, born in 1968, worked in Germany [1988–90] and Austria [1991–98], lives in Skopje). Thus, instead of bringing them to Europe, these men make every endeavour to secure financial stability and good education for their children, who live in the native place6.

6 However, as Hein de Haas and Tineke Fokkema correctly point out in connection to Moroccan migration, the above mentioned causes for the decision not to reunite with their families can sometimes conceal other motives: a failure to fulfil the financial and legal conditions for family reunification is an important reason that migrants often are averse to declare (de Haas and Fokkema 2010: 547).

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The shift of migratory patterns: family migration However, very often it turns out that achieving the desired objective is not that easy for various reasons (discouraging economic and political situations at home, as well as the more restrictive migration policies in Western European countries). Thus, for many Albanian migrants, the return is constantly being postponed and many migrants stayed two or more decades abroad. Often their more prolonged stay was followed by a family reunion in the new country. On the other hand, growing up during the 1970s in families with absent migrant fathers influenced many of my respondents to take their families with them when they migrated abroad during the 1990s, giving their own children what they saw as a better family life: “But since 1990s, they have started taking the families abroad. During the years another mentality has been developed. The old father returns here after 30 years of work in Germany, Austria, but he already lost his life. People have begun to think otherwise – so, why should I maltreat my woman and children leaving them on their own? Thereby they have started taking them abroad” (M, born in 1965, from Dologozhda, but living with his family in Austria). Family reunification was not the only motive for migrant men to take their families to the country they worked in. Economic prosperity and individual independence from patriarchal and collective authorities played a key role too. In the past every man’s contribution to the family household’s wealth was considered equal, no matter how much he had actually earned. But making good money could change this established status quo. The indisputable prestige of the household head was put to the test. It became more usual that he was increasingly dependent on the migrants’ money to pay household bills or other taxes. Gradually these resources became so important that prestige shifted to the provider away from the household head. In addition, Albanian migrants are faced with the choice between the traditional Albanian ideal of subordination to the common family interests or providing a better life only for their own wife and children, often abroad (Reineck 1991: 143). Since the mid-1980s and especially in the 1990s, the most frequent choice has been the second one. Some other conflicts – related to individual interests or gender – also started to emerge, bringing about splits within many of the extended families. My respondents often pointed out that the new pattern of family migration had certainly contributed to the emergence of nuclear families, and their gradual endorsement as a dominant form of family life: “No matter whether you liked it or not

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– you had to obey your father, because he was the oldest man. Such was our tradition. And actually we respected each other much more. [This lasted] probably until 20 years ago. And after that you take your family abroad and you don’t need to be obedient any more. The old people don’t have that influence any more. The children are independent of their parents and do not pay much attention to them, as they used to. They also do not give money to the oldest men” (M, born in 1944, worked in Germany, lives as a pensioner in Dologozhda, near Struga). Living abroad with the family changes migrants’ priorities: the focus turns towards earning to provide for the nuclear family abroad, while remitting to villages of origin takes second place (cf. Akkaya and Soland 2009: 8): “I don’t need the financial aid of my brother abroad. Moreover he cannot send money to me, he has his family there. Now Europe experiences this [economic] crisis and rather he needs help. Abroad you can earn and save money only if you are alone” (M, born 1965, worked in Switzerland [1989-1993], lives in Tearce, near Tetovo). There are different indicators of the shift in priorities. My investigation confirms the statement of Bashkim Iseni that these include the strong propensity for naturalization, the acquisition of real estate abroad, a decrease in investments in real estate in areas of origin, an abundance of Albanian-owned small and medium-sized enterprises abroad and investment in the education of children there (Iseni 2013: 234). The appearance of “them” (those working and living abroad) and “us” (who have been on gurbet, but have returned back) is also indicative: “For 15-20 years they have started bringing their children abroad. They have enrolled the children in German schools, they have graduated there. They even have started buying houses abroad. Those have already lived there, they are emigrants. If their children go to school or were born there, they are not there on gurbet. I was on gurbet! They don’t know what the gurbet is! And here they come like tourists” (M, born 1962, worked in Switzerland [1979-1986], lives in Zhelino, near Tetovo). Perhaps the most important change has happened for women who grew up and completed their education abroad. Their position, in turn, has an important influence on changing patriarchal attitudes towards the women’s role amongst people around them, including men: “My wife was there, her father had been working in Italy for many years and he had taken her there as a child. When we married, I also went there […] I barely speak Italian. But my wife speaks [Italian], she is fluent. What I do not know, my wife knows. She is working in a pasta factory and she found the first job position for me” (M, born in 1990, from Tearce, near Tetovo but working and living in Italy).

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Although family migration has been ongoing since the end of the 1980s, some migrants continue to support the idea of returning to their country of origin. For the vast majority of the first generation, visiting the country of origin, at least once a year, appears to have become a rule. For those who were born and raised in Macedonia, travelling there means going back ‘home’. Their regular visits and participation in communal life is a very important factor which should facilitate their eventual return after retirement. As children growing up abroad and finding their own families and lives, returning to the “homeland” looks like an increasingly more remote option: “It is very difficult for me to return. Because my whole family is there and if I come back with my wife here, all of my children will stay there. What are we going to do here, two old people? It is hard…” (M, born in 1954, from Tearce, near Tetovo, went to Switzerland in 1980 and took his family there in 1986). Return is even less desirable for women who, as a result of living abroad, enjoy more freedom, especially with regards to constant compliance to other members of the extended household and surveillance and supervision by the local community. They fear that return will restrict their freedom, even in older age. Similarly, the idea of returning does not appeal much to the second generation offspring of migrants. Paradoxically, regardless of this fact, a big section of the second generation continues to maintain a strong sense or link with their ethnic Albanian identity. Mixed marriages are still an exception and those who were born in Germany, Austria or Switzerland return to Macedonia to find spouses. The everlasting flow of new migrants to areas already inhabited by Albanians who are second and even third generation has a double impact. On the one hand, clubs and organizations in these countries support easier settlement and employment for the newcomers. On the other hand, new migrants carry with them a specific local Albanian culture and behavioural habits of their birthplaces, and as a result even second generation migrants develop interest in their cultural heritage. Many of the descendants of migrants remain related to their places of origin and local communities in Macedonia through their actions and thoughts. For many of them Macedonia was a summer vacation destination during their childhood. However, their parents’ home villages, and Macedonia as a whole, are not seen as a place to live. The ongoing socio-economic underdevelopment and instability is often mentioned as a cause. They fear integration and adaptation problems, in case they ‘return’, as well as a lack of the opportunities they are now so accustomed to. Switzerland or Germany is the place they were born, raised, and educated. They have their friends and established working positions there, and the real home for

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them is there: “They will have another mentality. There is nothing attractive for them here anymore. I see my sister’s daughters – when they come here, they don’t want to stay for a long time. Every day they ask: ‘Mummy, when are we going home?’ They don’t have acquaintances here, nobody knows them. You belong where your friends are. If you send me to the end of the world, I will come back here, I was born here, here is my family, and here are my friends. But those who were born there, they are different – they have citizenship there, they are educated there, and after university, they started immediately working there […]” (M, born 1962, worked in Switzerland [1979-1986], lives in Zhelino, near Tetovo).

Conclusion Albanian migrants from Macedonia offer an interesting case study regarding the continuity and the shifts which characterise their migratory processes. Different and even opposite migratory strategies (with regard to residence) have evolved over time. In the 1960s and 1970s, a sizable proportion of male guest workers left their families behind in Macedonia in order to secure better living conditions for the family, which meant sending strong economic and social transnational activities towards their areas of origin. The new European migratory policy toward immigrant integration, along with the on-going chronic political, economic and social problems in Macedonia, is the context in which a growing number of people have reoriented their migratory project toward settling abroad. This new pattern has essentially changed the connection to culture (values, behaviour, habits, and traditional rules) and social sphere (family structures, kin and gender relations, social status and roles, etc.). The nature of their transnational practices has also changed; they are less connected to their places of origin and better integrated into the host countries. What future direction will migration among Albanians from the Republic of Macedonia take? What kind of changes will occur in the overall migration patterns in the years to come? These questions leave the topic open for future research, especially having in mind the aspirations of Macedonia to join the European Union.

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