Italian Mobilities
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, New York University
Stephanie Malia Hom, Acus Foundation

The Italian nation-state has been defined in part by practices of mobility. Tourists have flowed into the country from the Grand Tour era to the present, and Italians left in massive numbers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the largest voluntary emigration in recorded world history. Italy has more recently been a destination for immigrants whose tragic stories of shipwreck and confinement are often in the news. In its eight essays, Italian Mobilities (Routledge, 2016) offers a critical accounting of those histories and practices, shedding new light on modern Italy as a flashpoint for mobilities as they relate to nationalism, globalization, and consumer and labor practices. Co-editors Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Stephanie Malia Hom will discuss these issues and others in their presentation of this ground-breaking collection.