The Italian diaspora in Tunisia
Colonization without colonialism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8147482 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gloria Frisone (0000-0003-1924-8092, University of Pavia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 552-572 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0001972025101484 |
| OpenAlex | W7138913041 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Through an ethnographic study of ageing Italians in Tunisia, this article explores the historical development of the Italian diaspora community in Tunisia from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. It compares two distinct yet interconnected Italian communities: the ‘lost colony’ of La Goulette and the ‘vacation colony’ of Hammamet, emphasizing the daily lives, social interactions and ageing experiences of Italian pensioners in Hammamet alongside those of long-established Italian descendants in La Goulette. The analysis highlights the duality of the Italian community’s identity, torn between its colonial heritage and modern migration patterns, providing a deeper understanding of the relative privilege enjoyed by the Italian diaspora and its complex relationship with the local Tunisian population. The findings emphasize the continuity between historical and contemporary forms of colonization without colonialism , offering insights into the nuanced interplay of race, class and national identity within the context of postcolonial Tunisia. This contribution is in dialogue with ethnographic and historical research on the European diaspora in Africa, which has demonstrated how (neo-)colonial inequalities can arise and evolve beyond the framework of political colonialism
Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Diaspora · Ethnography · Identity (music · Politics · Privilege (computing · Transnationalism · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · North African History and Literature
Understanding Lifestyle Migration
Diaspora Politics
Factions, Friends and Feasts
Ethno-erotic Economies
Tourism and Migration
Globalization and the Decolonial Option
Global diasporas
Naven
Privileged Mobility in an Age of Globality
From lifestyle migration to lifestyle in migration
The Making of Italians in Tunisia
Transnational gentrification
Rise (and Decline) of European Migrants in Greece
Coloniality of Power and Eurocentrism in Latin America
Decolonizing Post-Colonial Studies and Paradigms of Political-Economy
Theorizing Diaspora
Postcoloniality and Privilege in New Lifestyle Flows
The city and the sea
The Absent Presence
Regimes of Mobility Across the Globe
Migration and the Search for a Better Way of Life
Expatriate Communities
Staged Authenticity
On the Coloniality of Being
Bridge, Wall, Mirror; Coexistence and Confrontations in the Mediterranean World
| Highly cited | No |
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