Onward migration from Spain to London in times of crisis: the importance of life-course junctures in secondary migrations |
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Authors: | Cristina Ramos |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Sociology and Criminology &2. Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA |
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Abstract: | This study examines one response of migrants to the challenging economic conditions caused by the 2008 financial crisis in Spain: onward migration. Focusing on Colombians and Ecuadorians who mobilise their newly acquired Spanish citizenship to migrate to London, I argue that their new migration is part of their migratory careers and that this process is different from that of Spain-born emigrants because it is marked by the first socioeconomic incorporation. Acknowledging that the crisis is the main driver of this new move, I draw a typology based on life-course junctures to show the differences in how onward migrants understand this new move and what their expectations are. There are three broad types of onward migrants: (1) mature, reluctant migrants, (2) mid-life, career advancement migrants and (3) young, independence-seeking migrants. What they do have in common is that, through their first migration, they have acquired a certain migratory knowledge of the process that shapes their paths and expectations. |
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Keywords: | Onward migration Spain London economic crisis life-course junctures |
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