Abstract:
Internal migration in Albania and the issue of female gender
This paper aims to highlight the role of women during two markedly different periods of Albania’s recent history: the regime of Enver Hoxha and the period dominated by an unrestrained capitalism and high rates of internal and international migration. It focuses its main attention on the interrelationships between internal migration processes and the changing context of gender relations in Albania. It aims to demonstrate the various ways in which Albanian women participate in the migratory processes. They have been and are currently the mainstay for supporting not only their families, but also the entire Albanian society, through their productive and reproductive role, often kept in the shadow.
Despite some traditional norms and values persist and are reinforced during migration, as an antidote to social, economic and political changes, the shift, from the redefinition of the roles within the most important Albanian’s institution, the Family, took place. The gender relationships are being constantly transformed and negotiated over time.
The essay is structured along a series of thematic and temporal lines related to women’s issues. After the description of the Albania’s history through the explanation of the phenomenon of internal migration to the achievement of current events, the discussion continues with the representation of women into the domestic, political, working, religious, Albanians context; the last part describes women as actress of internal migration processes and highlights how mobility reflects power relations and inequalities, since such movements are socially, economically and politically produced.
