This open access book brings novel perspectives to the scholarship on transnational migration. The book stresses the complexity of migration trajectories and proposes multi-sited field studies to capture this complexity. Its constituent chapters offer examples of onward migration spanning all major world regions. The contents exemplify a range of interdisciplinary approaches, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The result is an impressive remapping and reconceptualisation of global migration and mobility, of interest to students and policy-makers alike. 

This introductory chapter sets the scene for the book. It defines onward migration as a migration trajectory that involves extended stays in two or more destination countries and distinguishes it from competing and overlapping terms like stepwise and transit migration. Onward migration is a growing phenomenon within overall global migration dynamics, although statistics to document the scale and trends of this type of migration are scarce. The main aim of the chapter is to examine how onward migration and transnationalism are connected. This is achieved both by reference to a range of existing literature and by citing evidence from the succeeding chapters in the volume. We demonstrate both how transnationalism can shape onward migration and, the reverse, how different onward migration trajectories may result in different forms of transnationalism. In this latter context, we identify inter-generational, split, widening and re-routed transnationalism, again drawing on examples both from the book and from the wider literature. The final section of the chapter consists of a methodological discussion on the practicalities of researching onward migration and multi-sited transnationalism, in which the technique of multi-sited ethnography is discussed, critiqued and modified.

The growth of international student mobility has been extraordinary. According to the International Institute for Education (IIE 2015), international student numbers rose from 2.1 to 4.5 million between 2001 and 2014. The trend can be interpreted in relation to the diverse drivers underpinning the rapid globalization of higher education. Research has shown that the production of international student mobility is both complex and geographically nuanced (Alberts and Hazen 2013; Bilicen 2014; Brooks and Waters 2011a; Gerard and Uebelmesser 2014; King and Raghuram 2013). This chapter explores one aspect of this important topic: the role of marketization in shaping international student flows. By the term “marketization” we guide the reader to reflect on the contested idea of higher education as an international market-place (Scott 2015), with many stakeholders seeking to “sell” opportunities for international study. 

When emigrant families return-migrate to their homeland, what happens to their school-age children? What challenges do these children face when they switch to a different school system and language? This paper addresses these questions in the context of family return migration to Latvia, based on 40 in-depth interviews with children, their parents and key informants - teachers, school support staff and return-migration coordinators. We find that imaginings of a smooth reintegration into a parental homeland of extended family and friends may not be realised; instead, many children, particularly those of secondary and upper primary-school age, experience the move as a rupture in their lives. School may be fraught with unrealistic expectations on all sides, not helped by poor communication between parents, teachers and support staff. The lack of fluency in the Latvian language is seen by teachers as an obstacle, rather than something to be accepted and worked with. Most teachers are unfamiliar with children from different backgrounds and origins and need training in diversity, tolerance and differentiated learning. This will become increasingly necessary in a country like Latvia, with its ongoing high rates of international migration and return. Our findings show that the educational system and children's experiences of schooling play a crucial role in returnee families' overall reintegration. This raises the importance of return preparedness for the children, including language preparation and awareness of pedagogical and curriculum differences.

Based on 20 in-depth interviews with young Spaniards aged 20-35 years in the London region, this article explores the linked processes of migration, adaptation, and young-adult life transitions from the perspective of psychosocial well-being. Although most young Spaniards have moved for economic reasons, they also have personal and emotional motivations. The article explores factors that mediated their well-being experiences in the destination setting, such as the role of social networks and the achievement of their aspirations. Aspirations were not only material, in the form of a steady and higher income, but also factors such as language improvement, reuniting with a partner or friend, and being independent from their family. The findings of the paper contribute new insights into the factors that condition the relationship between migration and psychosocial well-being during the transition of young people to adulthood.

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores some of the complex socio-cultural, emotional, ideological and political ramifications of the nexus between return migration and psychosocial wellbeing. it challenges the prevalent assumption in the literature that return migration is some kind of 'natural' conclusion to the migratory process in which the return 'home' closes the cycle of the migration trajectory. A more mobile, transnational conceptualisation of migration sees return as part of an ongoing itinerary rather than a permanent resettlement back in the country of origin. The book considers Jean-Pierre Cassarino's (2004) landmark paper on retheorising return migration. It prioritises the emotional experiences of return migration as a challenge to the conventional framing of the migrant as homo economicus. The book problematises the forced vs voluntary dichotomy in return migration through looking at the vulnerable wellbeing outcomes of those who are 'forced' to return to Afghanistan. 

Set within the migration-development nexus, the developmental impact of return migration has been less studied than the return flow of remittances to the migrants’ countries of origin. Different theorisations of migration see return in different ways. For neoclassical economists, returnees are ‘failures’ who miscalculated the costs and benefits of migration. For followers of the ʼnew economics’ of migration, returnees are ‘successes’ who achieved their targets in migration. For neomarxists, return migrants are the ‘unwanted’ victims of the capitalist system, sent back when no longer useful due to sickness, old age, recession and unemployment. The standard view of returnees is that they have the potential to instigate development through their investment of saved capital and the deployment of the skills and experiences which they bring back - expectations often found to be over-optimistic. The chapter concludes by reviewing empirical evidence from various geographical settings around the world. This shows that the developmental impact of return is contingent on the place, time and circumstances of return. 

International retirement migration (IRM) is hard to quantify yet is an increasingly important element in global migration, especially from more wealthy countries. IRM is driven by demographic, economic and lifestyle factors and is strongly interrelated with tourism flows and destinations. Conventionally seen as a privileged, socio-economically selective migration, it also attracts ‘pension-poor’ people seeking cheaper as well as more satisfying retirement lifestyles in warmer climates and pleasant urban and rural landscapes. Three regional systems of IRM are described: the European north-to-south migration of retirees to places such as southern Spain or rural Tuscany; the American system from North to Latin America, notably Ecuador; and an Asian system focused on Thailand as key destination. Despite systemic shocks such as the global economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, IRM is likely to increase in the future, with new typologies and geographies of movement emerging.

This paper focuses on the so-called zero generation': the parents of first-generation migrants who are initially left behind in the migrant country of origin and who may subsequently follow their children in migration or engage in transnational back-and-forth mobility. We challenge the prevailing optic on the left-behind older generation that sees them as dependent and in need of care, and stress instead their active participation both in migration and in the administration of care and support to their children and grandchildren. Drawing on interviews with mainly zero-generation Albanians, and also some first-generation migrants, in various geographical contexts - Albania, Italy, Greece, and the UK - we trace their evolving patterns of mobility, intergenerational care, well-being, and loneliness both in Albania and abroad. In telling the often-overlooked story of the zero generation, we highlight both their vulnerability and agency in different circumstances and at different times, shaped by family composition and the ageing process. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Southern European countries, especially those which are EU members, share similar migration histories, being traditionally countries of emigration but now having to deal with large numbers of immigrants, many of whom arrive via irregular channels facilitated by smugglers, or enter by legitimate means as tourists and then overstay. This paper introduces a special issue of this journal on the theme of irregular migration. It starts by recounting the implications of the recent (October 2013) Lampedusa tragedy. The remainder of the paper is in three parts. We first explore the flexible concept of irregular migration, including questions of definition and migration policy – especially the policy of regularisation, which has been widespread in the four largest Southern EU states. Next, we describe what has been called the ‘Southern European Model of Migration’ and its constituent elements and theoretical foundations, a key part of which is the dynamic interrelationship between irregular migration and the informal economy. Finally, we introduce the six papers that follow, highlighting their key findings and significant research contributions.

Based on 26 in-depth interviews with German-born second-generation adults of Turkish parentage who have relocated to the Istanbul region, this paper consists of three parts corresponding to three questions regarding: (i) their memories of growing up in Germany, (ii) the circumstances and motivations surrounding their 'return' and (iii) their experiences of life in Turkey since return. We draw on the conceptual notion of 'third space' to propose that the second-generation returnees occupy a fourth sociocultural space that is distinct from German society, Turkish society and the Turkish immigrant community in Germany.

As both a state-of-the-art and a forward-looking agenda, this introductory chapter reviews the evolution of the literature on return migration, seen as both a space-time event and an ongoing process. Especially since the turn of the millennium, the geographical range of return migration research has widened to a global reach and has been subject to a variety of theorisations. It has also been increasingly politicised, linked to policies of migration management and control. The chapter reviews and deconstructs a range of arguably false dichotomies of return, such as forced vs voluntary, permanent vs temporary and success vs failure. The impact of return on countries of origin and the challenges of reintegration for returnees are also highlighted. Several new implications for return are identified as themes for future research, including return and inequality, the role of returnees as conveyors of social remittances and cultural globalisation, and return as an intersectionally embodied process.

Over the past three decades, gender has been progressively mainstreamed into the study of migration; much less so into return migration, however. Three key concepts are deployed in this chapter to frame an analysis of return as a gendered process: intersectionality, gender as a relational concept and gendered geographies of power. As gendered subjects, migrants return home as relational beings - as spouses, parents, sons and daughters, siblings etc. - and as such they are embedded in gendered power relations both within their families and within wider societies. On the whole, women are more reluctant than men to return to their countries of origin, which are often male-dominated societies, whereas men are able to reclaim ‘lost’ masculinities upon return. However, there are exceptions to this. Post-return, women are often obligated to assume burdensome care duties and to negotiate oppressive gender and sexual stereotypes.

This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of young-adult graduates from Germany, Italy and Latvia. Conceptually the paper links three domains: the theory of core–periphery structures within Europe; the notion of London as both a global city and a ‘Eurocity’; and the trope of ‘crisis’. The dataset analysed consists of 95 in-depth biographical interviews and the paper’s main objective is to tease out the narrative similarities and differences between the three groups interviewed. Each of the three nationalities represents a different geo-economic positioning within Europe. German graduates move from one economically prosperous country to another; they traverse shallow economic and cultural boundaries. Italian graduates migrate from a relatively peripheral Southern European country where, especially in Southern Italy, employment and career prospects have long been difficult, and have become more so in the wake of the financial crisis. They find employment opportunities in London which are unavailable to them in Italy. Latvian graduates are from a different European periphery, the Eastern one, post-socialist and post-Soviet. Like the Italians, their moves are economically driven whereas, for the Germans, migration is more related to lifestyle and life-stage. For all three groups, the chance to live in a large, multicultural, cosmopolitan city is a great attraction. And for all groups, thoughts about the future are marked by uncertainty and ambiguity.

Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobility forms – migration on the one hand, and visiting friends and relatives ‘back home’ (and maybe elsewhere) on the other. The link between visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and migration has until recently been overlooked by migration scholars. It was essentially the 1990s ‘transnational turn’ in migration studies which highlighted more explicitly the to-and-fro mobilities that migrants engaged in with their homelands. Fast and cheap air travel has facilitated this intense VFR mobility. Taking a wider view, we argue that VFR travel is not a marginal aspect of migrants’ lives but is in fact constitutive of contemporary migration and diaspora dynamics. The first part of the paper maps out a typology of the multiple linkages between VFR travel and international migration; this is a complex task given the variety both of forms of migration and of types of VFR mobility. From this we aim to reconceptualise VFR travel as an essential element of most migration, and to draw out some of the economic and personal power geometries implicated in diverse forms of VFR travel and capability. We then examine three contrasting case-studies of VFR patterns amongst three different migrant groups in the United Kingdom: young Germans who are back-and-forth ‘free movers’ traversing shallow cultural and economic barriers to enjoy what they perceive as an exciting and cosmopolitan life in London; Kosovan refugees whose return visits were initially constrained by their exile status but whose VFR travels have since taken on a touristic aspect; and Latvian labour migrants in Guernsey whose to-and-fro mobility is partly driven by family ties and partly constrained by economic factors and the residence and housing restrictions on this Channel Island.

Reflecting the fact that migration processes evolve in space and over time, often through a series of logically linked stages, the chapter provides an overview of a range of migration transitions and sequences. It begins with a critical review of Zelinsky’s hypothesis of the mobility transition and proceeds to exemplify how various types of migration and mobility are sequenced and patterned across the globe. Included in the review are internal and international migration; emigration, return and onward migration; net emigration and net immigration; step migration; migrants’ shifts in status; and the wider issue of migration versus mobility. Such sequences and transitions are related to changes in economic structure, to political regimes of migration facilitation and control, and are embedded in individual and family life courses and biographies.

This paper compares the interrelationships between gender, family structures and intra-family care arrangements during two markedly different periods of Albania’s recent history: the communist era dominated by the autocratic statesocialist regime of Enver Hoxha, and the post-communist period dominated by a kind of reactive free-for-all capitalism and high rates of both internal and international migration. Since 1990 Albania has accumulated a ‘stock’ of more than 1.4 million emigrants, mostly living in Greece and Italy. Families have been torn apart by this mass emigration – both husbands from their wives and children, and older generations left behind or ‘orphaned’ by their migrant children. All this contrasts with family, residential and care arrangements during the communist period when not only were families generally living in compact and close proximity, but also a minimum of state welfare was available to support vulnerable and isolated individuals. However, internal migration was part of state economic and social planning, and some families which fell foul of the regime were split up and sent into internal exile. The paper provides a valuable lesson in historicising regimes of gender, family and care across dramatically contrasting social models.

The chapter examines the relocation decisions and post-relocation lives of the German-born second generation of Turkish parentage who have settled in Antalya, a tourist city on the south coast of Turkey. The analysis employs a range of concepts, including translocal geographies, memory entrepreneurship, nostalgia, home and belonging, to explore the shifting livelihoods, positionalities and senses of self, including self-development, of a sample of 30 research participants interviewed in and around Antalya in 2014. All participants were involved in the tourist industry, as owners, managers or employees working in shops, hotels, catering establishments, travel agents or as tourist guides. However, relocating to Antalya is not only about work and income. Participants also value this place as a cosmopolitan setting where they can lead ‘alternative’ and independent lives which they regard as more personally fulfilling, based on a flexible work–life balance, intense sociability and an international and non-judgemental social atmosphere.

The chapter reviews literature on self-realisation among older age migrants. It examines Western culture-influenced ideas about lifestyle and retirement migration projects, body and health as related to concepts of active and successful ageing and neuroculture. It further considers self-realisation through family projects and migration to countries where desirable gender roles can be pursued, work abroad and return migration projects. Finally, the chapter reviews civic participation projects. The chapter argues for more explicit and in-depth attention to civic and political participation, and for concerted efforts to study self-realisation projects in the Global South.

Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual article is to explore how Bernstein’s concepts can further our understanding of the internal structure of knowledge informing physical education (PE) and the transmission of knowledge from its site of production into the school subject. In the process of constructing a school subject, knowledge is chosen and decontextualised from where it is produced and then recontextualised into the pedagogic context. This process involves a subjective selection of what is valued as important knowledge. That which is stipulated in the curriculum is regarded as legitimate knowledge worth transmitting to the younger generation. This article offers a deepened understanding of the organising principles of knowledge and the transformation of knowledge into the recontextualised field of PE. Background: The subject of PE has been legitimised in various ways over time, yet in many parts of the world PE as a school subject remains under discussion. Competing ideas have appeared over the years about what constitutes PE, and these have been compared and contrasted with each other. Researchers in the field are concerned with a range of different yet related issues regarding the aim of the subject, the relevance of the content knowledge, and the legitimacy of PE as a school subject. Key concepts: Bernstein’s concepts of pedagogic device and knowledge structures will be applied as explanatory frameworks. The current PE syllabus and support documents in Sweden serve as examples to illustrate how the use of these two overarching concepts can help deepen the understanding of the internal structure of knowledge informing PE and the transmission of knowledge from its site of production into the school subject. Conclusion: This article demonstrates how applying Bernstein’s concepts as an explanatory framework helps identify the characteristics of the knowledge that informs PE and the origin and site of this knowledge. PE appears to be informed by a wide range of different knowledge domains, with each one possessing its own knowledge structure with different characteristics and ways of constructing knowledge. The article suggests that an understanding of the complexity of knowledge informing PE must be taken into consideration in the debate about the subject.

Based on interviews with 60 British Bangladeshis in London and with their relatives in Sylhet, Bangladesh, this chapter explores memories of the homeland and the experiences of visits. It compares the ‘memoryscapes’ of first-generation older migrants, long-settled in London, with those of their British-born adult children, and also compares the different experiences of men and women. The first generation reconstructs fond memories of their early lives in rural Sylhet, but nowadays they face difficult issues with property maintenance and inheritance, having been abroad for so long. The second generation generally react warmly to the homeland visits that they make, which enable them to enjoy extended-family hospitality, connect with their heritage and engage in tourism beyond their ancestral villages. However, some women and girls experience constraints on their behaviour during visits, due to the prevailing gender norms in the homeland.

Return migration is a topic of growing interest among academics and policy makers. Nonetheless, issues of psychosocial wellbeing are rarely discussed in its context.

Return Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing problematises the widely-held assumption that return to the country of origin, especially in the context of voluntary migrations, is a psychologically safe process. By exploding the forced-voluntary dichotomy, it analyses the continuum of experiences of return and the effect of time, the factors that affect the return process and associated mobilities, and their multiple links with returned migrants' wellbeing or psychosocial issues.

Drawing research encompassing four different continents – Europe, North America, Africa and Asia – to offer a blend of studies, this timely volume contrasts with previous research which is heavily informed by clinical approaches and concepts, as the contributions in this book come from various disciplinary approaches such as sociology, geography, psychology, politics and anthropology. Indeed, this title will appeal to academics, NGOs and policy-makers working on migration and psychosocial wellbeing; and undergraduate and postgraduate students who are interested in the fields of migration, social policy, ethnicity studies, health studies, human geography, sociology and anthropology. 

Mobility — or the lack thereof — has been one of the defining features of the socialist period in Albania and of the social transformations following the regime’s collapse in the early 1990s.1 The ban on foreign emigration during the communist era created a sense of deep isolation amongst the population, who literally stormed the country’s borders once the fall of the ‘system’ was considered inevitable. By 2010, around 1.4 million Albanians — equivalent to half the resident population — were estimated to be living abroad, prima-rily in Greece and Italy (World Bank 2011: 54). Within communist Albania internal movements were strictly controlled through a set of laws and regulations. The post-communist response was large-scale internal migration, especially from rural areas towards the capital Tirana and the port city of Durrës. This impressive spatial mobility, both international and internal, has brought about social mobility for some, immobility for others. Meanwhile, everyday mobility has also changed, reflected essentially in the rise of private car ownership from zero during the communist years. At the same time, being stuck immobile in queues for food and consumer goods — typical of shortage economies — has not been eradicated but transformed, for during the post-communist era long queues have been about getting visas at foreign embassies, or waiting to be checked by immigration police at border-crossing points.