In Luxemburg mit Portugal verbunden : Eine Verflechtungsgeschichte portugiesischer Migrantenvereine in Luxemburg und Portugals Emigrationspolitik (1974-1997).

The thesis is a contribution to the migration history of Luxembourg and Portugal for the period between 1974 and the end of the 20th century. It analyses the entangled history of the Portuguese migrant organizations in Luxembourg and the emigration policy of Portugal in the context of the Portuguese nation (re-)building process that took place after the end of dictatorship and the loss of the empire, in Portugal and abroad. No more an imperial nation, Portugal became after April 25 1974 what Dufoix calls a trans-territorial nation. It emphasized the role of the Portuguese living abroad as a part of the nation and adopted an emigration policy that aimed at protecting the Portuguese migrants and strengthening their ties with Portugal. The entanglement of the two actors, the migrant organizations and the Portuguese state, in Luxembourg reveals their interrelation in the fields of political participation across borders, economics, and culture and education. They offered the Portuguese migrants in Luxembourg ways and means to maintain cross-border connections with Portugal, and must therefore be considered as two actors in the Portuguese nation (re-)building process that took place in Luxembourg. The thesis offers a historical account of the institutional role of the state of origin with its emigration policy and the migrant’s organizations in the country of destination in maintaining cross-border connections with the country of origin.