Migration, Community and Identity

Migration, Community and Identity analyses experiences of migration to rural Wales from 1965 to 1980. It focuses on people who were part of the era’s counterculture, looking for an escape from mainstream society. Using original interviews, the book shows why people moved and how the move shaped their lives and identities. Drawing together geographical and historical research, this book explores the significance of this migration phenomenon. It provides a unique insight into late-twentieth-century Welsh society and shines a new light on the counterculture itself. Through analysing the experience of life in Wales and ongoing developments in the migrants’ sense of identity, it argues that rather than being a uniform group, the counterculture encompassed a diverse range of beliefs and aspirations.

The book will be suitable for upper-level undergraduates and above. The broad range of themes covered in this book is relevant not only to rural and historical geographers and migration researchers but also to those interested in sociology, anthropology, and the modern history of Britain and Wales. The theories and concepts discussed have global appeal and will be of interest to those studying similar migration phenomena elsewhere.