Ambivalent Mobilities and Survival Strategies of Moroccan and Bangladeshi Families in Italy in Times of Crisis

Abstract

This article investigates the link between the economic crisis and migrant family reunification with a focus on mobility strategies of reunited families. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Moroccan and Bangladeshi families, carried out in the Metropolitan City of Venice, between 2012 and 2016, the article aims to show the complex process of further separation that reunified families endure in order to deal with the consequences of the crisis. Family unity does not represent a definitive and lasting achievement. Rather, it is a status that must be constantly protected in order to fulfil the requirements imposed by reunification policies. Migrant families must undertake various forms of mobility to maintain their housing, occupational and economic standards and sometimes may move to other countries to preserve their unity. In response to the crisis, migrants appropriate the instruments of citizenship in order to increase their mobility capital and the opportunity to stay in Europe.