ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the history of Italian emigration and the implications of Italian citizenship policies in the development of the Italian transnational community. It discusses historical reasons that forced people to relocate abroad and emigration trajectories of Italian citizens. This chapter also analyses the historical approach Italian government had in the past decades regarding the socio-economic and political engagement of Italians living abroad. Chapter 2 also investigates the historical motivations that have driven the debate for the implementation of external voting policy and the creation of the foreign constituency in 2001. This analysis of the long debate about the extension of political rights to emigrants is crucial to understand the evolution of the debate on transnational political in recent years. In this chapter, particular attention will be given to the role of political parties during the negotiation for the creation of the foreign constituency and the implementation of the external voting policy.
