Understanding Rural Migration in the Mid-Twentieth Century: Examining Dimensions of Social Change and their Effects in Cisternino, a Southern Italian Town

This article examines the migration transition in Cisternino, a rural town in Southern Italy, after the Second World War, and analyses the social changes that influenced the observed migration shifts. Based on archival research, statistics and primary data, the article presents the town and its migration patterns before and after the Second World War. It then examines the town’s main social changes over the 1950–1990 period, and shows that three processes explain the changing migration patterns: the expansion of the state, cultural transformations and the restructuring of the local economy. The article shows that, after the war, migration became an adaptation strategy in reaction to rapid societal changes, including new aspirations among local residents. Therefore, migration became of vital importance at a time of high uncertainty. The article also shows the many ways in which, at crucial moments of transition, the state affected local livelihoods and people’s decision to either adapt locally or migrate.