| Description |
Although emigration of Portuguese gains importance in the public opinion and political discourses, as shown by press releases and political declarations the past years, within the Portuguese academic context, emigration and return have been marginal objects of study. This project addresses one of the mobility patterns affecting Portugal: the return of Portuguese immigrants who reside or resided in France to rural regions of the country. Within this context, it aims at critically examining the economic, social and political impacts of return mobilities in rural decayed areas, and comparing the current situation to works produced in Portugal in the 1980s and early 1990s. It also interrogates the role of this immigration within a wider range of mobilities that affect rural localities. More generally, MigRural participates in the better understanding of return mobilities on the one hand; and rural localities on the other hand; as well as the intersection between immigration and production of places. It can therefore offer rich insights on the inclusion of returnees and their participation in the revitalisation of rural former ‘exodus’ areas. In fact, return migration can be seen as a “force for change in rural society” (Black, 1993).
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