| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.1

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Comparative/World

Donna R. Gabaccia and Franca Iacovetta, editors. Women, Gender, and Transnational Lives: Italian Workers of the World. (Studies in Gender and History.) Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press. 2002. Pp. xvi, 433.
This volume is a companion piece to Italian Workers of the World: Labor Migration and the Formation of Multiethnic States (2001), edited by Donna R. Gabaccia and Fraser M. Ottanelli. When that work was in its formative stage, it became clear that a second volume would be required if gender were to be given adequate coverage in the broader discussion of transnational Italian workers. Although the earlier volume was the result of over a decade of collaboration, with a final conference in Tampa, Florida, in 1996, the volume under review had no culminating conference but is the result of professional networking and the dedication of its editors Gabaccia and Franca M. lacovetta.	1
A thirty-nine-page introduction identifies the themes of the twelve essays based in seven countries. This work is much broader in scope than its companion, reflecting the complexity and breadth of gender issues. The transnational approach allows for instructive comparison and analysis of issues surrounding "white widows," unpaid and waged labor, familial responsibilities, patriarchy, motherhood and domesticity, female militancy, and identity. In most chapters, authors challenge popular stereotypes perpetuated by middle-class moralists, ethnocentricity, or mistaken generalizations. Each essay is meticulously referenced, but documentation was not as abundant for this volume as its companion. Newspapers frequently offered only fragmentary references to women activists, providing more detailed coverage for male counterparts. Some contributors rely on oral history collections and interviews they conducted for a substantial part of their research. This collection, through innovative approaches and the creative use of extant sources, demonstrates the huge potential for incorporating gender in transmigration studies.	2
The volume is organized into four topical sections. In the first two sections, five authors (three Italian and two American) explore the impact that regional variations in Italy had on migration, the consequences that male emigration had on women left behind, and the relationship between familial responsibilities and specific occupations. Linda Reeder presents the most positive scenario of women left behind in her study of Sutera, a town in western Sicily. Unlike other regions, a cultural taboo prohibited women in this part of Sicily from agricultural work except during harvest. As a result, women crossed gender lines entering the public sphere with business transactions and negotiations previously handled by their husbands. In contrast, Andreina De Clementi examines landholding patterns in the peninsular south, where women took responsibility for agricultural work when men migrated. Gender-based division of labor disappeared as women turned to the fields. The regional differences not only had a significant impact on gender roles but also affected demography and marriage patterns. Maddalena Tirabassi details the wide range of wage and nonwage jobs performed by rural Italian women. She then analyzes two studies of rural life commissioned by the Italian parliament that demonstrate errors in the middle-class perception of rural life. Researchers should be cautious in using such documents. Paola Corti continues the discussion of gender and occupations in her stimulating essay on female migration on the Italian-French border. The diversity of terrain allowed for a wide range of skilled and unskilled, temporary and permanent occupations for women. Corti draws attention to the largely untapped local archival sources for future transnational gender studies. Diane Vecchio moves the discussion of female occupations and family identity across the Atlantic to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She examines women entrepreneurs and midwives and the relationship of gender, occupations, and familial responsibilities, drawing rich detail from personal interviews.	. . .

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