Migration Literature Research Articles

Defining, Measuring, and Increasing “Rootedness” in the High Migration Context of Honduras

Executive Summary The notion of “rootedness” in the sociology and migration literature is not well defined despite its increasing use by academics and, especially, practitioners. Defining and measuring rootedness has been problematic given that it is often operationalized as, but is not fully captured by, a concept related to social capital, community attachment, and participation. Rootedness is also often thought of as solely the absence of the desire to migrate. However, we argue that an individual’s desire to stay can be just as important as the well-documented “root causes” of migration; that is, economic poverty, insecurity, and strong migration networks. We propose a working definition of the concept of rootedness based on an empirical analysis of data from a nationally representative survey in the high migration context of Honduras. We find that rootedness can both be defined as and measured by an individual’s agreement with the idea that where they live is their “true home” and that they “see a good future” in that location. We further find that rootedness can be increased via a strong sense of security (not only the absence of victimization) and active community support for youth. Programs and policies should therefore promote security that goes beyond just preventing crime and fosters a general sense of wellbeing. In particular, programs should promote efforts to ensure that youth are supported by incorporating them in community decision-making, listening to what youth propose, promoting youth participation, and supporting youth leadership. Importantly, income is not strongly associated with this definition of rootedness. This finding highlights the important role of non-economic factors in migration decisions. Even when income increases, it does not necessarily increase the aspiration to stay. To be rooted, as we conceive of it, means more than having sufficient income. In summary, the paper examines and offers a new understanding of the concept of “rootedness,” which speaks to why some members of a community want to migrate and others desire to remain in their home communities. Fleshing out our understanding of rootedness as a way to talk about and measure the desire to remain is therefore crucial to realizing the “right” or “freedom” to stay at home.

Infrastructures of Social Reproduction: Migrant Survival and Economic Development at the Thailand-Myanmar Border

International migration literature has shown that infrastructures consisting of people and institutions sustain migration and help migrants cope in new environments. However, analytic focus on these infrastructures is often limited to the migration process and its impact on migrants. This article extends the growing literature on migration infrastructure by analyzing its socially reproductive capacities in the context of economic development in Thailand. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data from the Tak border zone, I show how the social and humanitarian dimensions of migration infrastructure that grew from war displacement, labor migration, and migrant survival efforts became essential to economic development aims of the Thai state. Through this case, I illustrate a process of infrastructural co-optation by which the state harnesses grassroots and humanitarian actors’ capacities for childcare, education, and healthcare to advance such aims. Authorities spatially contain migrant workers with limited rights and social protections while loosely engaging with parts of the border's infrastructure, which keeps noncitizen workers alive and available for low-wage jobs. The findings show that aspects of migration infrastructure are co-optable, with impact beyond the migration process and for non-migrants.

Gender Differences in the Migration Process: A Narrative Literature Review

AbstractMigration scholars agree that migration is a highly gendered process. While the literature on this topic is increasing, the knowledge produced remains fragmentary and has not been synthesized systematically yet. This literature review aims at summarizing the current findings of quantitative migration research comparing migration patterns between genders and highlighting gaps and patterns in the literature over time. Following a reproducible and systematic approach, 6032 articles have been scanned and 170 were considered for in‐depth content analysis. The review of the literature revealed that women have a lower propensity than men to realize their migration aspirations conditional on migration intentions. Moreover, many articles analyzing migration flows by gender do not support the common narrative of a feminization of migration. Finally, evidence from the migration literature supports the assumption that migrant women experience a double burden of discrimination in the destination country labor market based on their gender and their migration status. It becomes apparent that gender‐based comparisons between migration outcomes have received the most attention in the literature followed by the comparison of determinants. The stage of the journey received only little attention. This literature review also focuses on the data sources used to produce our knowledge on gender differences in the migration process. Thereby, it stands out that the majority of papers rely on survey data for the analysis. Digital trace data are a promising source for gender‐disaggregated data and can potentially complement the scarce aggregate migration data landscape.

Criminalising survivors of modern slavery: the United Kingdom’s National Referral Mechanism as a border-making process

Abstract The United Kingdom’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying potential victims of modern slavery (slavery, servitude, forced labour or human trafficking) and ensuring that they receive adequate care. This research explores differences in referrals and outcomes of potential modern slavery victims within the NRM on the basis of individual attributes, geography and first responder. Findings are based on exploratory analysis of data on 55,000 cases released by the Home Office in spring 2022 plus data from four Freedom of Information requests. Findings confirm that there are significant differences in rates of positive outcomes between native and immigrant groups, with native populations more likely to receive positive conclusive grounds (CG) decisions. Our key contribution is in identification of the role of the first responder in negatively influencing outcomes for victims of particular forms of exploitation. We suggest the differences in outcomes may be explained by the dual role played by first responders within the immigration system in identifying victims and implementing immigration control measures. We situate this finding within a broader critical migration literature on polymorphous borders pointing to the NRM as one mechanism through which bodies are differentially excluded from territorial access and associated rights or benefits.

Digital Migration Infrastructure in return-writing: visualizing the migration landscape of India.

Digitization has carved out the migration patterns of immigrants over the recent years of increased technological interventions in human mobility. Migration infrastructures, which typically refer to the physical, commercial, humanitarian, and governmental modes of operation, are multidimensional in nature. Digital infrastructures are equally important to the physical ones as digital technologies facilitate these migration processes through agents like hardware, software, and mediating actors. Amongst the multiple forms of migration, the concept of return-writing and nostalgia-struck-returnees encompass individuals whose life trajectories run parallel to the homeland. The narrative of return to the homeland emerges aβs a dominant motif in literature due to the rising trends of globalization, the writers' reflection on their own migrant experiences, and publishing trends meeting the demand of the global book market. The objective is to assess the role of digital migration infrastructures in return migrations to India through a close reading of the selected texts and review of postcolonial literary theories by using conditional operation in Python. The study here explores the varied nuances of return migration with a primary focus on the external conditions of travel in migration literature. The paper aims to analyze the genre of return-writing in Indian English literature, through three novels over a period of two decades, i.e., from 2000-2023. The selected texts, beginning with Amit Chaudhuri's A New World (2000), Gun Island (2019) by Amitav Ghosh, and Devika Rege's novel Quarterlife (2023), offer a panoramic view of return migration. These novels are extensive in the time period of technological interventions and in depiction of return migration. The Python code examines the extent of existence of a set of digital migration infrastructure keywords by analyzing the content of the novels and creates bar plots and charts to offer a visual representation of the classification results. The resulting trend traces the increased intervention of Digital Migration Infrastructure in the recent migration literature.

LA REPRESENTATION DU COMMUNISME DANS L’OEUVRE DE PETRU DUMITRIU, OANA ORLEA ET MARIUS DANIEL POPESCU

This article analyzes the representation of Romanian communism in exile and migrant literature from the ‘60s to the early 2000. The three authors that are discussed here belong to three generations of Romanian writers and their literary works revolve around communism. There are some common themes in their novels, such as: society described as a prison, the destruction of human trust under the strain of communism, the dissolution of identity in the context of exile and migration, the obsessive desire to leave the country. Another similarity between these works is the fact that they use autofiction, in order to emphasize the text’s authenticity; but Dumitriu, Orlea, and Popescu transform their personal experience by using complex narrative techniques in order to express a more general reflection concerning aspects such as: the freedom of expression, the influence of dictatorial regime on society, the conflict between the writer and the political power.

“This story is not about immigrants but about refugees”: “Loose Change” by Andrea Levy

ABSTRACT In the past two decades, the critical discourse of migration has shifted from an emphatic validation of migrancy still dominant at the end of the last century to a more differentiated view, taking into account the challenges of forced displacement. This article describes this shift and explores how it has facilitated new readings of migrant literature. It re-examines Andrea Levy’s short story “Loose Change”, discussing how its reception so far has hinged on the assumption of a principal sameness of all migrants. Following this, it problematizes critics’ consistent omission to reflect on the differences Levy develops between the narrator, a well-to-do descendant of the Windrush generation, and a homeless refugee from Uzbekistan. As is shown, close attention to these differences yields a new understanding of Levy’s short story which raises crucial questions about British civil society’s attitude to refugees and British civilians’ implication in their fates.

“Our Children Are Dead”: Past and Anticipated Adversity Shaping Caregiving and Cultural Reproduction among Banyamulenge Refugee Families in Rwanda

It is well known that experiences of extreme adversity strongly impact caregiving and family dynamics. In this study, we explore how caregiving is shaped by experiences of war and displacement among a community experiencing protracted, ongoing conflict and displacement, namely, Congolese Banyamulenge refugee families in Rwanda. The findings are based on six months of ethnographic team research with Banyamulenge refugee families living in semi-urban southern Rwanda. Among the caregivers, including people who arrived several years ago and others who have lived in Rwanda for over two decades, we found a strong longing for home and past cattle-herding life. We also found that caregivers emphasized the transmission of “survival tactics” as well as Banyamulenge identity and culture. We argue that these caregiving objectives and practices speak to the community’s experiences of material and existential losses in the past, as well as those anticipated in the unknown future. Second, parental caregiving efforts appear to lead to increased intergenerational dissonance, with children wishing to integrate into their host community. While this finding appears in line with much of the migration literature about intergenerational family relationships and conflict, we find that children’s orientation is not only informed by the host environment but also stems from a desire to relieve their parents’ suffering from loss and help them invest in more optimistic futures. Finally, while our findings suggest profound changes in social and cultural reproduction in the long term, we argue for caution, as ongoing changes in war dynamics in DR Congo may inform shifts in ideas on belonging among the children. The findings provide new insights for understanding how caregiving may be affected by war and displacement while effecting change in war-affected, displaced communities.

The Postcolonial Unconscious in North African Migrant Fiction

The impact of the postcolonial unconscious on North African migrant fiction has been extensively explored and revealed through both theoretical frameworks and literary practices throughout the postcolonial era. Scholars and writers alike have delved into how the psychological remnants of colonialism continue to influence the narratives, themes, and character development in this body of work. This ongoing examination highlights the deep-seated cultural and psychological legacies that shape the identities and experiences of both individuals and communities within North African migrant literature. As a reflection of the long-lasting consequences of colonial history on people and society, North African migrant writers, like other postcolonial writers worldwide, tackle themes of identity, displacement, and post-colonialism. Theorists like Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Frantz Fanon, and Jacques Derrida have theorized that the unconscious influences language and subject creation, which in turn shapes their narratives. This analysis uses Fanon’s concept of the postcolonial unconscious, which explores the psychological effects of colonialism, such as internalized trauma and cultural hybridity, as a major framework. This study examines how postcolonial unconscious and related themes appear in the writing of North African writers who have immigrated to Europe and the USA, emphasizing the psychological and cultural effects of colonization on both individuals and groups. In addition to offering in-depth examinations of some texts, the paper presents a comprehensive view of the importance of postcolonial literary criticism in comprehending the complexities of postcolonial societies.

The European Commission and the migration-development nexus: accessing resources and increasing the mandate

ABSTRACT The migration-development nexus (MDN) denotes interdependencies between international migration and development. The article identifies six different causal relations between migration and development in the scientific literature and applies them to understand EU policy on the nexus. At EU level, the nexus often serves the central policy objective of limiting irregular migration to Europe, the so-called root causes approach. Yet, contrary to prior research, this article finds that an opposing nexus conceptualization that calls for enabling migration is actually the dominant causality promoted by the European Commission. Unlike studies that explain the dominance of the root causes approach as a lowest-common-denominator choice, this article argues that the Commission’s DGs also use the nexus strategically. They promote contradictory approaches, which however all call for an increased Commission mandate and financial resources, selectively omitting those nexus frames that would decrease their role. The migration literature often relegates the MDN to a sub-theme of migration policy. This study shows that MDN is central to the entire EU migration policy area and transpires much of its migration discourse. The nexus and its conceptualizations are thus instrumental for broader migration policy debates beyond the EU as they touch upon demographics, social security, and welfare questions.

The Migrant seen as a Philosophical Wanderer: Real Perceptions, Ideals and Fantasies on Foreignness - Philosophical Counselling for Migrants

The nomad spirit has shaped the authenticity of our humanity since the dawn of time. In this process, the cultural self undergoes a transformation or a conversion. Migrants are those who are seeking to pacify some initial anxieties or inner delusions and to do so they are availing of the element of foreignness by settling in or travelling to a distant place. This research asserts that there is a physical abode that grants us a sense of familiarity and security. Individuals anchor their identity in the broadness of these three pillars that give the predisposition of a being-at-home feeling; the childhood home, any place on our emotional axis that is associated with our family or friends and the made up places found in modern, popular stories that blend in with our idealism of what home should mean. Second, the paper will argue, as found in the case study, that the majority of us are psychologically unequipped when we proceed to meeting with the inclemencies of a new political, economical, social and cultural setting of a different country. There is much reflectiveness, aloneness and responsibility in migrants’ decision to engage in the dialogue of interculturality. Hence, the migrant begins to resemble a philosophical figure by means of contemplation, self-transformation, dispelling the impurities of the mind and the soul by carrying out a personal project of outlandishness. Within the presence of the dialogue, we not only perceive what is different from our behavior, but we also take the first step into discovering other life styles and all habits adjacent to them; we participate in the “mutual belonging” of interculturalism. The study will bridge the cultural, social, psychological implications from migration literature to philosophical theories. It represents a humble attempt at connecting philosophical counselling approaches and techniques with existing multicultural guidance services which are present in every country.

‘I wish I had listened and not come to South Africa’: fantasies, expectations and trajectories of migration among Ethiopian unaccompanied child migrants into South Africa

ABSTRACT Migration studies often focus on the socio-political and economic factors that drive people to migrate, overlooking the fantasies and processes involved in actualising the journey. This paper examines unaccompanied Ethiopian child migrants in South Africa, using the concept of fantasy to understand the preparatory processes of migration and their realisation. It argues that fantasies of future expectations and self-enhancement propel individuals into virtual fantasy worlds that can lead to physical migration. This study contributes to the migration literature by exploring the fruitful yet limited role of fantasies and expectations in the complex and multi-phased phenomenon of migration.

Understanding the association between (im)mobility and life satisfaction in Australia

AbstractStayers are an important component of the internal migration system, yet despite their numerical significance, they are often treated as ancillary to movers in the migration literature. As a result, there is a conflict between the mobility‐centric view of immobility as undesirable and developing narratives which recognise staying as an active and consciously made decision. We therefore need to rethink immobility conceptually and empirically to shed light on a numerically dominant component of the population that has largely been neglected. Using Australia as a case study, this paper examines whether being a stayer has a positive or negative association with life satisfaction, and whether this relationship varies by (1) preference for staying or leaving, (2) between cities and regional areas, and (3) before and during the onset of the pandemic. By first reconceptualising staying as an active process and distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary stayers, life satisfaction outcomes are examined using four migration preference‐behaviour types: desired stayer, undesired stayer, desired mover and undesired mover. Drawing on nationally representative survey data and regression modelling, results reveal important differences in life satisfaction outcomes between individuals expressing a preference for staying or leaving. Findings highlight that while satisfaction of stayers generally declined, being an undesired stayer was associated with a significantly greater loss of life satisfaction compared to being a desired stayer. The magnitude of this association was greater for undesired stayers in regional areas and those surveyed during the pandemic. These results illuminate the varied characteristics and outcomes of stayers within the Australian migration system, demonstrate the importance of acknowledging preference in theorisations of (im)mobility and emphasise the value of adopting an immobility‐focused perspective on internal migration.

Parables for planetary crisis: storytelling and multispecies migration in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island

Throughout his oeuvre, Amitav Ghosh deals with storytelling and migration. Exploring legacies of empire and entanglements between the human and non-human world, his writing is driven by an ethical imperative to excavate “forgotten” stories, and, especially in his later texts, to find new forms of storytelling suited to capture pasts, presents, and futures shaped by a growing sense of planetary crisis. Gun Island (2019), a generic mix of personal quest narrative, thriller, romance, and folk tale, depicts a world disrupted by different forms of multispecies migration. Linking the Indian subcontinent, the US, and Europe, it chronicles voluntary and forced journeys of humans and animals between the Global North and South, intertwining refugee and climate crises in the Mediterranean and Bangladesh with the morally charged legend of the gun merchant, a seventeenth-century world traveller. The text brings current and historical links between migration and climate change, which are comparatively rarely treated in literary fiction, into sharp focus. As this essay argues, it highlights specifically the need to broaden the notion of migration literature and its subgenres to include both human and animal migration and the impact of globalization and current realities of climate change. Exploring genre and poetics in Gun Island, this essay reads the novel against the broader aesthetic and cultural-historical arguments made in Ghosh’s The Great Derangement (2016) and The Nutmeg’s Curse (2021). To explore Ghosh’s poetics, which fuse everyday realism with the uncanny, the improbable, and the mythical, this essay also draws on Thom van Dooren and Deborah Bird Rose’s notions of “ethography”. It argues that Gun Island, as a multispecies climate migration novel, responds to the author’s call for a rediscovery of storytelling beyond Western-style realism or SF, as a means to capture human and non-human subjectivities and to undo demarcations between rationality and spirituality.

Motherlands in Europe. Economic Subalternity and Fantasies of Family in Contemporary Romanian Literature of Migration

ABSTRACT This paper sets out to analyze fictional and autobiographical Romanian narratives, published between 2010 and 2014, that engage with westward economic migration within Europe, focusing on the context of EU-15. My main argument is that these narratives, which convey an experience of economic subalternity, cast light on the problematic nature of the EU as a neocolonial enterprise, even though they fail to articulate a full-blown progressive politics of mobility. I further examine how their particular narrative features – defined by monoglossia, sentimentalism, and enclosure – suggest the failure of the constructivist idea of Europeanness that hailed the advent of post-nationality and the promise of mobility as social progress. The texts I analyze uncover and respond to this failure by forging conservative worldviews that are primarily invested in romanticizing family bonds and affective communities. Based on these findings, I open a theoretical debate and try to explain that fiction of contemporary economic migration partakes, alongside the emergent corpus of refugee literature, in a world-literary shift, from the polyphonic, cosmopolitan paradigm of postcolonial fiction, to less sophisticated narrative forms that reassert the value of authenticity and national homogeneity and retaliate against multiculturalism and hybridity.

Flexible canons. Czechs in the world: Whither migration literature?

Flexible canons. Czechs in the world: Whither migration literature?

Expanding the boundaries of hospitality: the relationship between Ukrainian refugees and their hosts

ABSTRACT Family members and friends play a crucial role in refugees’ arrival and settlement, including accommodating them in their homes for varying periods. While the migration literature has demonstrated the positive impact of such support for refugees’ well-being, the relationship between the host and guest and the potential challenges of reunion and cohabitation are seldom explored. This study adopts the concept of ‘hospitality’– a notion originally based on welcoming the ‘stranger’ – to study the welcoming practices of citizens with their previously acquainted ‘guests.’ Using qualitative methods, the relationships between Ukrainian refugees and their hosting relatives and friends in Israel were explored. Three main relationship dynamics are presented and discussed: (a) hospitality across borders, (b) hosts as service providers and (c) the burdens of hospitality. Altogether, these dynamics were found to challenge the common notion of hospitality, as they uncovered the pivotal role of hosts as advocates beyond the domestic sphere and across borders, as well as the emotional burdens of hospitality in close quarters over time. Finally, the role of the state is discussed regarding the regulations of the host-hosted relations by privatizing its responsibilities and designating hosts as responsible parties.

Translating Identity in Leila Abouzeid’s Return to Childhood

This paper delves into the intricate process of translating migrant literature, using Leila Abouzeid’s autobiography Return to Childhood as its case study. Beyond merely examining the multifaceted mechanics of translation, it uncovers the profound significance embedded within this process. By navigating linguistic disparities and cultural nuances, translators, it avers, play a pivotal role in bridging gaps between cultures. By employing a detailed analytical framework, the study elucidates how translation serves as a dynamic catalyst for cultural transformation. In so doing, it seeks to catch the delicate balance between preserving cultural identity and catering to the expectations of diverse audiences. Additionally, the paper underscores the pivotal role of migrant authors as agents of cultural hybridization. Through their translated works, they challenge dominant cultural narratives and dismantle stereotypes, enriching the cultural landscape with diverse perspectives. Moreover, the discussion delves into the inherent power dynamics of translation, emphasizing its primordial role in fostering cross-cultural understanding and disrupting monolithic cultural identities. In fine, this study illuminates the transformative potential of translation in shaping cultural discourse and promoting inclusivity on a global scale.

The Work of Literature in the Age of the Refugee

Abstract This essay considers the specific challenges that attend the study of the figure of the refugee, probing the valence of historical and geopolitical comparison alongside the limits and possibilities of literary methods. Considering recent books on the literature of migration, the essay examines the aftermath of twentieth-century wars in Asian American, Caribbean, Latinx, and US literary criticism.

SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES IN TÜRKİYE: A FIELD OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN TURKISH RED CRESCENT AND THE EU

Türkiye has been hosting approximately 6 million migrants according to the World Migration Report published by the International Organization for Migration in 2022. To manage the migration flows, the EU has provided financial assistance to Turkish civil society organizations working on the integration of migrants. One of those organizations has been the Turkish Red Crescent. The migration literature criticizes the externalization approach of the EU and the instrumentalization approach of Türkiye in the 2000s. However, this paper focuses on the good practices of those actors and argues that the EU-Turkish Red Crescent collaboration has directly served the social integration of refugees. The migration-related programs and activities of the Turkish Red Crescent let the religious and cultural similarities between the societies positively contribute to the integration. It is concluded in the paper that collaborative actions among the regional actors, state, and civil society to overcome problems between refugees and the host community and contribute to producing a peaceful environment for social integration.