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Genealogy
Special Issues
Mobilities and Precarities
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Mobilities and Precarities

A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2024) | Viewed by 7768

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rimple Mehta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Interests: migration; borders; criminology of mobility; gender-based violence; women in prison
Dr. Melissa Phillips

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Interests: migration; displacement; diaspora; settlement; irregular migration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Genealogy on ‘Mobilities and Precarities’.

We live at a time when anthropocentrism, neoliberalism and neo-colonialism alongside wars, persecution and violence are creating unsustainable modes of living and precarities that result in forced migration. At the end of 2021, the total number of people worldwide who were forced to flee their homes due to conflicts, violence, fear of persecution and human rights violations was 89.3 million, which was more than double the number a decade ago, and the most since World War II (Global Trends Report 2022). The experiences of forced migration are exacerbated for individuals, groups and communities who are located at the intersection of marginal identities of race, class, caste, religion, gender, sexuality, ability, ethnicity or nationality.

In this Special Issue, we seek to explore the manifold precarities that people experience before, during and after migration under forced circumstances. Mobilities, whether within the national boundaries or beyond, are accompanied by precarious journeys. The need to access basic services for employment, housing, health, education and the loss of social support and networks makes ‘settling’ in a new cultural and geographical place challenging. Social, economic and political precarities also shape migrants’ pathways to spaces of incarceration such as a detention centers, camps and prisons.  In many ways, the mobility across places is often accompanied by an immobility as migrants negotiate and resist both everyday experiences of marginalization and precarities created by structures and institutions.

In addition, the multiple impacts of border restrictions at the height of COVID-19 amplified the existing precarity of migrants in multiple contexts around the world. Such measures included physical restrictions on movement, forced containment in specific locations and in some cases targeting of migrant workers due to their marginal status. The implications of these measures are only now starting to be understood at social, community and governmental levels regarding migrant/refugee experiences; impacts on notions of belonging and identity; policy futures and governance of migration.

The overarching purpose of this Special Issue is to present further insights on the intersection between mobility and precarity across a range of sites, disciplines and methodological engagements to explore future implications in this field.

Papers are invited from any relevant disciplinary backgrounds, addressing but not limited to the topics listed below:

  1. Forced migration and precarities;
  2. Climate change induced mobility;
  3. Gender-based violence, precarity and mobility;
  4. Neoliberal welfare policies and mobility;
  5. Transnational NGOs, humanitarian aid and mobility;
  6. Socio-legalities of migration;
  7. Mobility, social relations and networks;
  8. Mobility, precarity and incarceration;
  9. COVID-19 and mobility;
  10. Solidarities/intimacies across borders;
  11. Surveillance and mobilities;
  12. Technology, Mobility and precarities;
  13. Policing of mobilities;
  14. Racism and mobilities;
  15. Resistance to borders.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Genealogy editorial office (genealogy@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Dr. Rimple Mehta
Dr. Melissa Phillips
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • migration
  • displacement
  • precarity
  • borders

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 249 KiB  
Article
“And Then One Day, Me and My Husband, We Learned How to Cross the Street”: Hazara Women’s Experiences in Sydney and Yearnings for ‘Home’
by Rimple Mehta, Linda Briskman, Michel Edenborough, Fran Gale, Samantha Tom Cherian, Mohammad Arif Nabizadah, Jasmina Bajraktarevic-Hayward and Asma Naurozi
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020033 - 24 Mar 2025
Viewed by 543
Abstract
As numbers of displaced people throughout the world steadily increase with the rise in global conflicts, many Western nations, including Australia, increasingly thwart asylum-seeking and place harsh restrictions on entry. Nonetheless, Afghanistan’s troubled political history over several decades has generated steady movement of [...] Read more.
As numbers of displaced people throughout the world steadily increase with the rise in global conflicts, many Western nations, including Australia, increasingly thwart asylum-seeking and place harsh restrictions on entry. Nonetheless, Afghanistan’s troubled political history over several decades has generated steady movement of refugees to Australia, and Australia has offered protection, although often conditional and limited. Little is known about the experiences of women who fled, giving up their homes, professions, education, extended family, and social lives that were rich in connection. Despite expanding research and literature, there are still gaps in what is known about what happens to refugee women who resettle in Australia. The research outlined in this article uncovers the stories of six Afghan women, highlighting their agency to counter stereotypes. The article focuses not only on losses experienced, but ways in which this group of Hazara women negotiated their way in their new home of Australia, with the support of STARTTS, a not-for-profit organisation. Some of the initial barriers to resettlement in Australia involved accessible and timely information, limited proficiency in English, and comprehending laws and norms. The ongoing effects of trauma along with these barriers often accelerated the ageing process for these women, limiting their ability as well as opportunity for employment. These barriers were exacerbated in the context of the yearnings for their homeland and loved ones who were still in Afghanistan. Women were torn between feelings of gratitude for their own security and of guilt and pain for those in Afghanistan. Through STARTTS-facilitated groups, women found opportunities to connect with one another. They also used these connections to gather information about support programs, for themselves or their families, crucial for them to reconstruct their lives in Australia. For refugees experiencing dislocation, the formation of social networks in the host country contributes to belonging and connectedness and facilitates rebuilding trusting relationships that have been intentionally destroyed, where they can share their experiences in a safe, trauma-informed environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobilities and Precarities)
18 pages, 288 KiB  
Article
Beyond the Demands of Integration: African Refugee Resettlement in Contemporary Multicultural Australia
by Kathleen Openshaw, Atem Atem and Melissa Phillips
Genealogy 2025, 9(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9010011 - 29 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1296
Abstract
This paper uses the example of negatively racialised refugees from the African continent to reiterate the racialised nature of migrant and refugee experiences in Australia. This is a context that remains deeply influenced by a violent history of British colonisation and racist migration [...] Read more.
This paper uses the example of negatively racialised refugees from the African continent to reiterate the racialised nature of migrant and refugee experiences in Australia. This is a context that remains deeply influenced by a violent history of British colonisation and racist migration laws, including the restrictive White Australia Policy (1901–1973). Drawing on the authors’ research and personal experiences of working with, and navigating, the Australian resettlement system this article examines the racialised violences inherent in expectations of ‘integration’ for (former) African refugees in a settler colonial country. This paper proffers a principle level re-imagining of refugee resettlement in Australia that challenges patriarchal white sovereignty. It proposes a meaningful consideration of resettlement practices that are community-led, localised, relational and that recognise the agency of refugees who settle in Australia. This paper disrupts dominant tropes of refugees as perpetually vulnerable and deficit, by centering the agency, needs and expectations of a good life as it is lived in community, rather than dictated by the state. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobilities and Precarities)
18 pages, 2464 KiB  
Article
“What Kind of Migrant Are You?”—Iranian Migrants in the West, Racial Complexity and Myths of Belonging
by Shima Shahbazi
Genealogy 2024, 8(4), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8040144 - 3 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1059
Abstract
In this article, I analyse the complexity of the status of “migrant” in relation to myths of belonging and what we call “home”. I look at status labels that Iranian border-crossers embrace after migrating to the Global North and the ways in which [...] Read more.
In this article, I analyse the complexity of the status of “migrant” in relation to myths of belonging and what we call “home”. I look at status labels that Iranian border-crossers embrace after migrating to the Global North and the ways in which they practice adaptability in accordance with the systemic and structural meanings associated with their migration status and their racial complexity. Ethnic and Racial labels adopted by Iranian migrants can include “Persian”, “Iranian”, “Middle Eastern”, “White”, or “Aryan”, and migration status labels range from “migrant” to “refugees and asylum seekers”, “exiles”, “expats” etc. Using a mixed approach of digital ethnographies, autoethnography and textual analysis, together with an intersectional and decolonial lens, I investigate the ways in which migration status such as skilled categories are associated with not only “fitting” into the neoliberal and capitalist systems of border crossing but also “blending” into racial hierarchies and maintaining class status post migration within White contexts. This article takes an empathetic approach to the lived experiences of minority and racially complex migrants and emphasises the epistemic value of their narratives and the ways in which these stories can inform us about the covert systemic structural and racially loaded bias that exists within migration economies of the Global North. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobilities and Precarities)
23 pages, 523 KiB  
Article
Labour Migration and Human Trafficking in Andhra Pradesh, India: A ‘Determinants of Migrant Vulnerability’ Perspective
by Neha Nimble, Sharli Mudaliyar and Tejeswar Karkora
Genealogy 2024, 8(3), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8030085 - 2 Jul 2024
Viewed by 2883
Abstract
Labour migration, other than being a key driver of economic growth and development, is also associated with inconsistent human rights practices. This paper furthers the understanding of links between migration and human trafficking in Andhra Pradesh, India. It applies IOM’s Determinants of Vulnerability [...] Read more.
Labour migration, other than being a key driver of economic growth and development, is also associated with inconsistent human rights practices. This paper furthers the understanding of links between migration and human trafficking in Andhra Pradesh, India. It applies IOM’s Determinants of Vulnerability Framework to assess and analyse the various ways in which vulnerabilities of the migrant unorganised and casual labourers are constructed as they are forced to migrate for livelihood security. The study employed a mixed-methods approach which included a survey of 5888 individuals, seven case studies, five focus group discussions and 121 key informant interviews. The paper confirms that migration, by itself, does not lead to trafficking. A number of intersecting, inter-related factors at individual, household, community, and structural levels add to risks or provide protection against trafficking to a migrant before, during or after the process of migration. Relatedly, the paper argues that the process of migration is a continuum between vulnerability, unsafe migration, and trafficking. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobilities and Precarities)
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