Presentation

Nesta breve apresentação, a autora, à época Diretora Regional das Comunidades do Governo dos Açores, justifica a razão de ser do estudo que comporta o livro em apreço.

"Several factors caused the Azores, a few decades ago a place of departure of thousands of people to overseas, to be transformed into host islands to about 5,000 individuals from 86 different nationalities. Underlying this change was (1) April 25th with the country's democratization process; (2) the integration of Portugal in the European Union and the consequent modernization and better quality of life; (3) the free and less bureaucratic access to education; and (4) the creation of jobs which not only stanched emigration, but also allured individuals of other nationalities. […]".