Cartographier et représenter les migrations internes en Italie

Contemporary society is increasingly characterized by an intense mobility of individuals, which has been boosted by the evolution of transportation. Indeed, although the development of means of communication has greatly reduced the need to physically reach places, it is evident how nowadays people can move easily and faster than in the past. Undoubtedly, internal migration represents a fundamental aspect of mobility, whose concept is strongly linked to that of space. In this regard, while international migrations refer to a wide territorial context, internal migration involves a detailed and precise territory. Thus, chartography techniques are widely considered to be the best representation of internal migration. In fact, cartography has been used since the earliest studies of internal migrations. However, given the size and density of the flows, other methods of representation have often been preferred. The objective of this research, is therefore to investigate different methods of representation of internal migration, including cartography. In doing so, it is here presented an overview of the different methods of representation adopted by scholars to describe internal migration in Italy, with the aim of highlighting their limits and possibilities. Through a chronological approach, this article tries to demonstrate how the first map, created with traditional graphic instruments, seems to be the best appropriate tool through which representing the phenomenon at hand.