ABSTRACT
This chapter illuminates the main mechanisms, forms, and patterns, at macro and micro levels, of post—World War II mass migrations of the Europeans in the context of quickening globalization. It outlines the macrostructural—specifically, world-system, framework, and main parameters of European international migrations at the turn of the twentieth century. The chapter identifies, and discusses in the macrostructural context, the major categories of European international migrants and their origins, destinations, and occupational and legal status in the home and/or host countries. It deals with micro-level social support networks, informal and institutional, relied on by migrants as they plan their travels and come to sojourn or remain permanently in a host country. The chapter also identifies the regional, occupational, and political status correlates of the specific forms of assistance networks used by migrants and assesses the enduring and new elements in these micro-facilitators.
