Understanding European Emigration in the Context of Modernization Processes

Abstract

Based on the results of a qualitative study, this article deals with the biographies of Austrians who emigrated to the US after 1965. While, in terms of quantity, the most significant waves of immigration into Western Europe have been studied extensively during the past few years, external migration has been given comparatively little consideration. A closer look at the sociological contributions that deal with this phenomenon also shows that the existing research is only helpful to a certain extent: emigration from Western European countries is mainly discussed on the basis of very few groups of people and is ultimately categorized as being `diversified' and `individualized'. In this article, it is suggested that emigration from Western Europe should be understood as one possible course of action shaped by the conditions of a second modernity. Therefore, it is oriented more closely towards the goal of self-realization — quite in contrast to such well-known forms of migration as labour-related migration or forced migration into the European Union.