Return migration in Permet, Albania: achieving power-positions in the

community
By Corina Voicu and Corina Pavel

Bucharest University

Romania

The article is based on a research in the city of Permet, Albania, which was focused on migration
issues. We chose to build our analysis on two life stories, told by two members of the
community, whom we consider representative: Nori and Vassilaq. Both describe their identity
with similar notions, but their social status, education and experience make them symbols of two
opposite (or complementary) cultural milieus.

In order to understand the migration mechanisms in this Albanian border city, and maybe grasp
an idea of this phenomenon in the whole country, we use the sociological concepts of status
consistency and inconsistency. First we talk about the initial impulse of migration, then about its
consequences on a personal level and on the community level. The circle closes with the return
back home in Permet and the socio-cultural metamorphosis that happens here, again on both
levels. The push and pull migration factors are analyzed in this two cases of Nori and Vassilaq.

We focus also on our subjects` perception on the migration phenomenon in their country, and on
their future projections. In this way, we can have a deeper understanding of their identity and
values. Everything is placed in the context of our own cultural background.