Ivaylo Markov: Migration, Remittances and Sociocultural Dynamics among Albanians from Macedonia

Ivaylo Markov (Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographical Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)

During the last five decades labour migrations among Albanians from Republic of Macedonia are a mass phenomenon. At first as citizens of socialist Yugoslavia (1945–91) and, after 1991, of the Republic of Macedonia tens of thousands of people have left their native areas and settled as workers in a number of Western European countries (primarily in Germany, Austria and Switzerland), temporarily or for a long time. In proposed paper the author presents results of his doctoral research work on the topic of contemporary mobility and migrations in search of better living conditions and livelihoods among the Albanian population in Macedonia. The focus is putted on the effects of migration in the context of the social and cultural practices and connections which individuals and groups carry and develop, and their reflections on the places of origin. The main research questions concern the effects of financial and social remittances upon personal living conditions and overall village infrastructure in the migrants’ places of origin; the changes in social organization and family-kin relationships affected by migration; and the ways in which connections and relationships between migrants and non-migrants affect people’s social status and roles.