The History of Migration and Political Economy in Rural Greece: A Case Study

The History of Migration and Political Economy in Rural Greece: A Case Study Janeen Arnold Costa Introduction Migration across national boundaries and to and from rural areas has been a part of life in Greece since the earliest times and is indicative of continuing interplay between local and extra-local levels.1 The voluntary mass-migration characteristic of the modern period, however, differs from earlier migration in both cause and process, although the outcome—depopulation—is the same as that associated with earlier "forced" migrations induced by famine, plague, war, and other catastrophies. Pre-conditions to voluntary mass migration and the migration itself have, over time, brought about a more complex and intimate meshing of socioeconomic and political systems at varying levels of integration. This paper is a case study of migration, the flow of populations to and from the Greek island of Cephallonia from the 12th century to the present. In analyzing the pattern of migration and depopulation so evident in many parts of rural Greece and elsewhere in the world, certain developments stand out as stimuli to voluntary mass movements out of the countryside: (1) a situation in which local selfsufficiency is transformed to one of dependency through commercialization of agriculture2; (2) the availability of extra-local social and economic opportunities; and (3) the penetration of an ideology which leads individuals to believe a local area can no longer meet their needs. All of these developments require communication with and integration into extra-local systems. Furthermore, the process is one in which the conditions may arise virtually simultaneously, or evolve one at a time. Additionally, some segments of the society may be affected immediately, while others may not show similar changes for decades or even centuries. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Volume 6, 1988. 159 160 Janeen Arnold Costa The Case To the west of the Peloponnesian Peninsula of Greece lies the island of Cephallonia. Largely through emigration in the last several decades, the population of Cephallonia has "halved in the 20th century and is still falling" (Rossiter 1977: 485). At the turn of the century, the population was approximately 85,000. In the 1920s, it was 66,000. The population numbered around 55,000 in the 1950s and approaches 28,000 today (National Statistical Service of Greece 1982). In the last few centuries, the capital city of Argostóli and the adjacent town of Lixouri were established and grew. Today Argostóli has a permanent population of around 7,000; Lixouri has 3,000 inhabitants. The main port, Sámi, has a de facto population of approximately 600 in the winter, swelling through tourism and returning migrants to nearly 3,000 in the summer, and is the largest of many villages. Fertile flat areas of the island support larger numbers of people, while extensive depopulation is evident in other parts of Cephallonia. The overall population is both age-skewed and sex-skewed—individuals of working and reproducing age have migrated , and more men than women have left. To understand the effect of external and internal forces on the migration process, I examine present-day and historical relationships among local, sub-regional, regional, national, and international or world systems. In terms of this particular case study, this means analyzing local villages and regions, the island of Cephallonia, the nation of Greece and the other nations to which Cephallonia has been attached in the past, Europe, Asia Minor, and the rest of the world. From Homer's recording of Odysseus' voyage through to the 14th century, Cephallonia had been the site of vast human movements related to political upheavals, wars and invasions, disease and natural disasters.3 Shifts in formal government and administration among various international powers occurred. Death, depopulation and dislocations were the consequences of nearly continuous civil wars, invasions, and pillaging; among the invaders were Romans, Goths, Slavs, Arabs, Bulgarians, Normans, and Franks. Venetian Rule, Indirect and Direct: 1204 to 1797 In the year 1204, the history of Cephallonia became separate and distinct from what would later become the modern nation of Greece. Venice took over control of the island and followed a policy History of Migration 161 of indirect rule until she felt ready to govern...