Interaction of ancestry and agency: Challenges, constraints and options for second‐generation Albanian youth relocating from Greece

Abstract

AbstractThe Greek economic crisis resulted in tens of thousands of Albanian migrants returning to their home country. Amongst the returnees were many second‐generation children of the immigrants, who either returned with their families or relocated as individuals, leaving family members in Greece. Since the second generation were brought up in Greece they are not true returnees; we call their movement ‘relocation’ rather than return. Based on in‐depth interviews with 158 second‐generation ‘relocatees’ aged 18–35, we ask: How are the second generation's future aspirations in the ancestral homeland shaped by family bonds, sociocultural factors and employment and business options there? Among the themes that emerge from our analysis are issues of agency, youth mobility, economic survival, hybrid and dual identities, and feelings of belonging. In their (re)integration, relocatees face both economic and emotional challenges. Our key finding is that, despite the need to escape unemployment and loss of livelihood in Greece, the young‐adult second generation struggles to settle in Albania, above all due to what they see as the challenging sociocultural and infrastructural environment. Women, especially, bemoan the loss of freedom that they enjoyed in Greece. Most relocatees want to go back to Greece when the economic situation there improves.