‘For a Better Life’? The Role of Networks in Social (Im)Mobility after Return to Albania
‘For a Better Life’? The Role of Networks in Social (Im)Mobility after Return to Albania

Summary/Abstract: This article addresses the question of what influences the opportunities for social mobility in the context ofreturn migration to Albania from a meso-level perspective. It applies a network-theory-based analysis to104 qualitative interviews with a diverse sample of returned migrants, conducted in Albania between 2019and 2022. The interviews are clustered into three categories according to the stated economic need formigration. The analysis shows that the geographical dispersion, the support capacities and the influenceof these networks on migration decision-making differ significantly between the three categories. Despitesome dynamics, individual network embeddedness reflects the overall socio-economic and ethno-politicalstratifications of the origin society and distinctively shapes migrants’ modalities and means of migration,the opportunities for resource accumulation abroad and their ability to re-establish themselves after return.Thus, social networks mainly contribute to continuity rather than change in terms of social stratification,even over the course of migration(s) and return(s). Yet, these effects are mediating, not determining,outcomes and are context-dependent. Lastly, network effects differ not only between but also within thecategories, depending, for example, on the gender or age of the migrant.

• Details
• Contents