The social and spatial mobility strategies of migrants Romanian migrants in rural Greece

• Published in: International Labour Migration to Europe's Rural Regions Vol. 1; pp. 37 - 51
• Main Authors: Fratsea, Loukia-Maria, Papadopoulos, Apostolos G.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2021
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Albanian Migrants; UK Agriculture; Rural Areas; Spatial Mobility; Vice Versa; Top Destination Country; Greek Citizenship; Migrant Integration; Greece; Labour Migrants; Romanian Migrants; Labour Market Incorporation; UN; Wider Social Science Literature; Western Greece; Romania; EU8 Migrants; Europe; Mazovian Region; Life History Approach; UK Horticulture; Romania's Accession; Economic Incorporation; Europe's Rural Regions; Migrant Agency; Social Upgrading; Social Mobility; Rural UK; Integration Pathways; Albanian Men
• ISBN: 9780367900717; 9780367626501; 0367626500; 0367900718
• DOI: 10.4324/9781003022367-4

Since the collapse of the socialist regime in 1989, Romanian migration has represented an increasingly important migration flow to Greece, and Romanians are currently among the top migrant nationalities in Greece. Yet their integration pathways into Greek society remain under-researched. The chapter analyses the Romanian migrants' agency in shaping their social and spatial mobility trajectories, and how their active engagement with practices and strategies for social mobility relates to their perception of existing inequalities and alter their future aspirations. First, a theoretical discussion is developed, based on a review of key works addressing the concepts of migrant agency and mobility. This is followed by a brief account of Romanian migration to Greece. The empirical part of the chapter, which draws upon consecutive qualitative studies in the wider rural area of Western Greece, analyses the social and spatial mobility strategies of Romanian migrants and details their attempts to improve their wellbeing and social standing. The concluding part articulates the chapter's novel insights into the relationship between migrant agency and mobility, and how Romanian migrants, who initially filled less prestigious occupational positions, later moved up the occupational ladder. However, Romania's accession to the EU and the economic recession triggered new forms of movements. This chapter analyses the Romanian migrants' agency in shaping their social and spatial mobility trajectories, and how their active engagement with practices and strategies for social mobility relates to their perception of existing inequalities and alter their future aspirations. It draws upon consecutive qualitative studies in the wider rural area of Western Greece, analyses the social and spatial mobility strategies of Romanian migrants and details their attempts to improve their wellbeing and social standing. Contemporary theoretical and empirical debates on migrant integration in the labour market focus on migrants' precarious status and their limited ability to alter their working or living conditions. In contrast to traditional narratives of migrants as 'passive victims' of external events, these strategies underscore the migrants' role as active agents in the migration process, who seek to improve their social position in the host country and/or to establish their position in their origin country.