We reason that the dominant migrant-network approach enables us to understand the (differentiated) choices of migrants during their journeys while not denying their agency, but also faces several limitations in terms of the rigid understanding of localities, the narrow focus on linkages that matter and the neglect of reciprocal exchange and obligations. This comes at the expense of the explanatory power of this approach in contemporary society, where migration control is omnipresent and migrants’ journeys are much more fragmented in time and place. We suggest not to restrict this approach to the given points in our social networks (relatives, friends, co-nationals) that facilitate the migrants’ journeys but, instead, opt for a broad, holistic, and dynamic perspective on them, in which human and non-human actors, strong and weak ties, old and new linkages as well as the obligations that exist and are created within these interactions should be central.
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Front Matter
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Part I: Approaches and perspectives on irregular migration
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Part II: Aspirations and facilitation of irregular migration
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Part III: Everyday life and (im)mobility
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Part IV: Informal and irregular labour and exploitability
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Part V: Geopolitics and micropolitics of control
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Part VI: Solidarity, advocacy and contestation
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Back Matter
