Constructing migrant capital in Belgium: migrants’ views on the translation of capital types across fields and time

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the growing scholarship on ‘migrant capital’ by examining the social, cultural, and economic capital acquired and used by 29 migrants living in Belgium, building further on the ‘Multi-Level Spatio-Temporal Analytical Framework’ [Erel, U., and L. Ryan. 2019. “Migrant Capitals: Proposing a Multi-Level Spatio-Temporal Analytical Framework.” Sociology 53 (2): 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038518785298], to understand how these capital types are translated, using local and transnational social networks, into the new field and how these feeds into ‘migrant capital’. Findings show that migrant capital differs based on migration history, migration drivers and the existence and structures of migrant communities and having transnational networks. Migrant capital shapes acculturation processes after arrival in Belgium.