Pratiques culturelles et circulation en Europe

In the present study the author examines the migratory practices of movement between France and Portugal of young French of Portuguese ancestry, as well as of young Portuguese living in France. The study of these practices from an ethnological point of view sheds light on the interaction of material resources and the multifaceted symbolic resources associated with them. Besides the economic and political dimension in which these practices are grounded, the identity — forming process of which they are a part raises a number of questions — especially in the context of the European Union. The author shows how, by using elements drawn from the family migratory history, natural history and Portuguese culture, the descendents of Europeans who migrated for economic reasons are now trying to go beyond the dilemma of an identity posed by their «double culture», as well as the social and cultural constraints imposed on them by their elders.