Motivations and expectations of Italians planning to move to Finland

Abstrakti

The Italian community in Finland is relatively small compared to other larger Italian communities abroad. Despite the quantitatively restricted dimensions, there are multiple reasons to study the phenomenon. First of all, the two countries represent the geographical extremes of the European Union as well as two very different realities in terms of historical, cultural and social background. These two member states of the EU in fact are very different in terms of multiculturalism / multiethnicity and for their role in the European unifi cation process. Studying the migration flows between the two countries is therefore important not only to understand the bilateral relationship between Finland and Italy but it can also off er a more general perspective on how the European integration process is actually proceeding. This essay examines the decision-making process of Italians planning to move to Finland through a semantic analysis of the posts (or web messages) sent to the message board of web newsmagazine La Rondine by Italians looking for a relocation in Finland. The collection and analysis of the semantic universe provide the list of motivators at the basis of Finland as chosen destination and an outlook on how Finland is perceived by Italians. As a conclusion of the semantic analysis on the source material, a map on the opportunities and threats that Italians attribute to Finland, will be drawn.