The Politics of Return: International Return Migration in Europe: Proceedings of the First European Conference on International Return Migration (Rome, November 11-14, 1981)

The present volume adds to the concern with return migration in the context of the time of publication. The close to forty papers on the subject included in this volume address return migration in Europe, especially in the present and the preceding decade (relative to the time of publication) and also offer excursions into the history of return migration to Europe. The central focus of the volume is however, what happens to the normally expected return flows when a variety of essentially restrictive measures are undertaken by the receiving countries to stem further in-migration and to encourage return. What happens is illustrated both on the national and local scale; other papers offer theoretical perspectives explaining return migration. On the whole, it is argued through the individual papers, disparate as they may seem, that the relationship between a universalist policy of social security and both the number of people and their wealth is such that protecting the status quo cannot but ensue.