Albanian Context

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter aims to present the migration framework and the situation of women in Albania. The first section briefly reviews the socio-economic conditions of Albania during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which I separate into two main periods: before and after 1991. I take the year 1991 as the official end of the mono-party political system, also known as the communist era or regime, as it is also the year when the country’s first multiparty elections happened. I explain how, in this context, migration became one of the leading forces transforming Albanian society. The second section of this chapter focuses on the history of migration in Albania, limited to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Here, I also discuss the research site, the city of Tirana. The third section presents the situation of women in Albania, focusing on some central matters that support the analysis in this research.