Institute of European Studies

Repeat crossings of the North Atlantic by European migrants during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were more frequent, faster-growing and had more intricate and significant impacts on the overall long-distance relocation process than previous scholarship has appreciated. This result is revealed by the first comprehensive accounting of all crossings between Europe and North America during the period, and by a consistent, broad, and process-based definition of migration which encompasses all transoceanic journeys except those made by tourists and business travellers. The rise of repeat migration between Europe and the United States was a rational response of migrant networks to the growth of “floating” job opportunities in America, and to the need for diversifying the risks of remote and uncertain employment across multiple individuals making multiple moves.