Società e processi migratori

This essay provides a general picture of migratory processes in the contemporary society, evidencing their impact on the receiving and the sending countries. After describing the “globalisation” of these phenomena, today involving all the countries of the world, the Author illustrates the main tendency of contemporary migrations: the feminization of the process, the high incidence of qualified migrants, the intensification of the flows for family and humanitarian reasons, the growing importance of entries not attracted by specific laws. At the same time, some general tendencies in the management of migratory flows must be taken into consideration, in particular the advent of more selective migration policies. Besides the demographic, the economic and the “urban” impact of immigration, the essay highlight the formation of transnational communities linking migrants (and non migrants) living in different countries. In the final part, the essay illustrates how the rise of international migrants have obliged national States to rethink to the concept of citizenship.