Italian women migrants in post-war Britain : the case of textile workers (1949-61)
In the decade following the end of the Second World War, a mass migration of Italian workers came to the United Kingdom to be employed in Britainâs factories and mines. Amongst these, many were women. Thanks to official recruitment schemes drafted by the British and Italian governments of the time, young women left Italy in their thousands, to be employed as domestic workers or in factories, especially in the textile districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Here, they joined other migrants recruited through the European Volunteer Workers scheme, a government-led operation aimed at sourcing manpower from mainland Europe. The Official Italian Scheme was one of such recruitments, but one of the least investigated. The present research begins by studying the process of recruitment of young Italian women, within the wider context of Italyâs post-war emigration policies and its diplomatic relations with Great Britain. Subsequently, the research focuses on the entry of Italian women in the textile districts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire and the process of their integration within British society. Finally, the thesis examines the attitudes of Catholic missionaries in Britain, the Italian expatriate
Gasperetti, Flavia
DA Great Britain ; HQ The family. Marriage. Woman ; HT Communities. Classes. Races
Italian women migrants in post-war Britain : the case of textile workers (1949-61). In the decade following the end of the Second World War, a mass migration of Italian workers came to the United Kingdom to be employed in Britainâs factories and mines. Amongst these, many were women. Thanks to official recruitment schemes drafted by the British and Italian governments of the time, young women left Italy in their thousands, to be employed as domestic workers or in factories, especially in the textile districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Here, they joined other migrants recruited through the European Volunteer Workers scheme, a government-led operation aimed at sourcing manpower from mainland Europe. The Official Italian Scheme was one of such recruitments, but one of the least investigated. The present research begins by studying the process of recruitment of young Italian women, within the wider context of Italyâs post-war emigration policies and its diplomatic relations with Great Britain. Subsequently, the research focuses on the entry of Italian women in the textile districts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire and the process of their integration within British society. Finally, the thesis examines the attitudes of Catholic missionaries in Britain, the Italian expatriate
italian woman migrant post_war britain case textile worker decade_follow end_second_world_war mass migration italian worker come united_kingdom employ britain factory mine amongst many woman thanks official recruitment scheme draft british_italian government time young_woman leave italy thousand employ domestic worker factory especially textile district lancashire yorkshire join migrant recruit european volunteer workers scheme government led operation aim source manpower mainland europe official italian scheme recruitment least investigate present begin study process recruitment young italian woman within_wide context italy post_war emigration policy diplomatic_relation great_britain subsequently focus entry italian woman textile district greater manchester lancashire yorkshire process integration within british_society finally examines attitude catholic missionary britain italian expatriate