De Brez, Trento al mineral de Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, México. Redes transnacionales de mineros italianos

Abstract

This paper examines the migration flow of a community of farmers from Brez, Trentino – at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – that headed to Sierra Mojada in Coahuila to work as miners. It describes the political and cultural characteristics of the receiving country, the Italian settlers, and the transnational geographic spaces they had to cross. Numerically the miners are only a small fraction of the total emigration from northern Italy to Mexico, yet the microhistorical Italian perspective makes it possible to frame them within international migratory movements. The study found consistent connections between migrants’ city of origin and adopted city, and identified the importance of networks of family members and friends for support for subsequent migration flows. Those who returned as a result of World War I – as subjects of the Kingdom of Italy – continued to work as miners in different locations, making them difficult to trace.