Title: The logics of transit: the anticipation of onward mobility and its consequences for social and economic relations in Istanbul

Authors: Brigitte Suter

Addresses: Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare (MIM), Malmö University, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 20506 Malmö, Sweden

Abstract: This article departs from Istanbul as a transit location experiencing a constant inflow and outflow of (African) migrants, and the strong narrative among African migrants that Istanbul has nothing to offer and should be transited as fast as possible. As a consequence of this, the article identifies migrants' constant anticipation of each other's potential leaving - the logic of transit - as a useful concept to understand social and economic migrant relations in a situation of transit. Thus it offers an analysis of how this logic permeates the formation and maintenance of social networks and, consequently, impacts on trajectories of mobility. Developed through in-depth analysis of the migrants' lived experiences, it offers a new angle on transit movements and the condition of transit in general.

Keywords: transit migration; social networks; immobility; Istanbul; Turkey; onward mobility; social relations; economic relations; African migrants; immigrants; transit movements; migrant flows.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2017.083233

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2017 Vol.3 No.2/3, pp.158 - 173

Received: 08 Oct 2015
Accepted: 23 Mar 2016
Published online: 22 Mar 2017 *

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