People on the move and their translocal connections: A case for translocalising trajectory research

Abstract

A translocal perspective has proven to be useful for enriching research on migration and transnationalism by recognizing the importance of locality or place amidst the mobilities and connections that cross different boundaries. In particular, a translocal perspective has advocated for a grounding of these mobilities and connections by studying them as they take shape on the ground, in specific environments, sustained by situated people. It has also allowed for an appreciation of migrant engagement and cross-border livelihoods beyond conventional settings of international migration scholarship, highlighting the dynamics of internal, regional, and South-South migration. Following more recent progress in migration scholarship, the question is whether a translocal perspective can also usefully contribute to emerging trajectory research, that is, the burgeoning research on migrant journeys that highlights the complexity of migration as people rarely move in a straightforward line from point A to point B. Increased barriers to human mobility and the proliferation of migration industries often result in drawn-out trajectories of moving and dwelling, facilitation and blockage. Trajectory research has exposed these realities and the divergent conditions and experiences of people on the move. At the same time, trajectory research tends to approach its subjects as individuals, as migrants who engage in many networks on the move but not necessarily or explicitly as migrants who are part of translocal families, livelihoods and other configurations that link origin communities with along-the-way and potential destination settings. Similar to how a transnational perspective enabled an analysis of migrant engagement with both home and host country in the past, it seems time for a recognition of people’s translocal connections while on the move. Based on research with African nationals who travelled across Central America to the United States and Canada, this paper aims to establish an empirical case for translocalising trajectory research. It argues that a translocal perspective would benefit from trajectory research as this complements the perspective with a power-sensitive view on im/mobility. At the same time, the paper argues that trajectory research would benefit from a translocal perspective to enable a recognition of the places, connections and communities that are involved with the trajectories of people on the move.