Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Itinérances transnationales : un éclairage sur les réseaux migratoires afghans

2009; Presses de Sciences Po; Volume: n° 44; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3917/crii.044.0083

1777-554X

Alessandro Monsutti,

Migration, Refugees, and Integration

This article seeks to illustrate the virtues of taking a transnational approach by drawing upon the ethnography of the social networks that the Hazaras, a group originating in central Afghanistan, have created between their country of origin, Pakistan, Iran, North America and Australia. Several theories are advanced. The social life of the Hazaras is not structured by reference to a common place of residence but rather by effective ties of solidarity and mutual aid that cut across international frontiers. The phenomenon of mobility is constitutive of their way of life at both the socio-cultural and economic levels. Even in time of war, the flight from violence is not always incompatible with a genuine migratory strategy. Dispersal can be the result of a planned choice by which members of family groups seek to diversify their means of subsistence while diminishing the risks attendant upon uncertainty. Describing the circulatory territories of the Hazaras thus allows one to put the distinction between forced and voluntary migration into context.