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Title What if Networks Move? Dynamic Social Networking in the Context of African Migration to Europe
Full text https://repository.ubn.ru.nl//bitstream/handle/2066/170753/170753.pdf; http://hdl.handle.net/2066/170753
Date 2015
Author(s) Schapendonk, J.
Abstract Contains fulltext : 170753.pdf (Publisher's version ) (Open Access) - As a welcome alternative to economic explanations of migration, the social network has become a key concept in migration studies. However, by maintaining a static conceptualisation of networks (as grid-like structures) and by suggesting that social capital automatically derives from networks, we tend to fall into a form of network determinism. As an alternative, this paper makes the case for a practice approach to social networks that recognise the changeable nature of networks and the social endeavours that are needed to accumulate social capital. In so doing, I first revisit the work of Granovetter and Bourdieu in order to explore existing practice elements in their network approaches. I subsequently combine these insights with practice-oriented migration studies. This analysis results in four hitherto undertheorised elements that provide a foundation for the advocated networking approach. Finally, I illustrate the analytical value of this approach by discussing the networking practices of sub-Saharan African migrants en route for the European Union. - 19 mei 2014
Subject(s) Shaping and Changing of Places and Spaces
Type of publication Article / Letter to editor
Source Population, Space and Place, 21, 8, pp. 809-819
Identifier 10.1002/psp.1860
Repository Nijmegen - Radbout University of Nijmegen
Added to C-A: 2024-02-26;10:02:40