Working here, investing here and there: present economic practices, strategies of social inclusion and future plans for return among the Albanian immigrants in a Greek-Albanian border town

This paper examines the capital and non-capital investment practices of Albanian immigrants living in a border town in Greece. It argues that both permanent settlement and return are open possibilities for the Albanian first-generation immigrants who seem eager to be integrated into Greek society and at the same time reluctant to abandon the idea of return in the future. Second-generation immigrants, however, view the possibility of return as unlikely. Fieldwork was conducted in a town in north-western Greece and the empirical analysis is based on primary data derived from participant observation, a semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews among Albanian immigrants in the fieldwork area.