Gender and Migration: a historical and inclusive perspective

This articles provides an overview of the most relevant and challenging historiographical and methodological issues related to the study of female migration in the society of the past (especially in preindustrial societies). The article goes through the literature on the history of migration and considers whether previous studies have paid (or not) specific attention to the differences between migration of women and men and with which conclusions. Furthermore it argues that the dichotomies between short and long-distance migration on the one hand, and domestic/national and international migration on the other hand, have dominated the literature to an excessive extent. The article suggests to adopt an inclusive approach and a gender perspective approach, and identifies three different, but interconnected and partially overlapping, crucial standpoints for achieving this: 1) institutions and law 2) labour and the household economy 3) social networks.