The London Migration Research Group (LMRG) presents:
Child and Youth Migration:
Mobility-in-Migration in an Era of Globalization
Forced Migration, and Material and Virtual Mobility
among Rwandan Children and Young People
Giorgia Doná
Professor of Forced Migration and Refugee Studies
School of Social Sciences
University of East London
Tuesday, March 10th 5:30pm
NYU Centre London
6 Bedford Square
Abstract
This paper analyses Rwandan children's and young people's mobilities taking place during conflict and forced migration, and it highlights the centrality of mobility to the understanding of their lives. By bringing together the literature on forced migration and on mobilities, the paper shows the connections that exist across contexts that are generally kept separate in the literature on internal displacements, regional refugee movements, repatriations and diasporic migrations. The mobility-in-migration concept is introduced to explain the intersection of multiple forms of mobility that take place within the broader arc of forced migration. Methodologically, mono-sited research that started in Rwanda is combined with multi-sited ethnography with diasporic Rwandans living in Africa and Europe and netnography of Rwandan mobilities in virtual space. The findings indicate that in glocal contexts, mobilities fulfill multiple functions: they are a survival strategy, a driving force to achieve one's aspirations, a means to explore identity issues and a way to strengthen social ties. Children and young people express agency through their engagement with mobility in material and in virtual spaces where young e-diasporas are promoters, audiences and actors of glocal movements. The findings are then linked to the key themes of Child and Youth Migration: Mobility-in Migration in an Era of Globalisation co-edited by Veale and Doná, of which the paper is one contribution.
Bio
Giorgia Doná is Professor of Forced Migration and Refugee Studies in the School of Social Sciences at the University of East London and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research focuses on forced migration and refugee movements, child protection and migration, psycho-social interventions, and participatory research methodologies. Publications include Child and Youth Migration: Mobility-in-Migration in an Era of Globalisation (2014); Empowering Refugees: An Evaluation of Paiwand Advocacy Service (2012); Research Methodologies in Forced Migration, Special Issue for the Journal of Refugee Studies (2007); Child and Youth Migration, Special Issue for the International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care (2006); Overview of the Conditions of Children Outside Parental Care in Institutions and Communities in Bangladesh (2003); and The Rwandan Experience of Fostering Separated Children (2001).
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