History Commons^™

Sending States’ Transnational Interventions In Politics, Culture, And Economics: The Historical Example Of Italy, Mark I. Choate

Faculty Publications

This article uses archival evidence to study in depth the historical policies of Italy, as a classic sending state. Most of the mass migrations of a century ago came from multinational empires, but Italy was a recently formed independent state. Ambitious to benefit from emigration while assisting and protecting emigrants, Italy reached out to “Italians abroad” in several ways. For example, the state opened a low‐cost channel for remittances through a non‐profit bank; promoted Italian language education among Italian families abroad; supported Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad; and subsidized religious missionary work among emigrants. Italy’s historical example of political innovation …