Emotions in motion. How feelings are considered in the scope of migration sociological studies

Abstract

The subject of this article deals with the manner in which emotions have so far been considered in sociological migration studies. Existing works focus primarily on emotions in a pathological or therapeutic way, so it has to be stated, that the often postulated emotional turn in social sciences has not yet fully reached the area of migration. So the valuable analytical potential of a perspective based on the sociology of emotions is not completely exploited because that would imply focusing on the general functions of emotions in contexts of migration. This article introduces interesting works which already deal with the carrying concepts of emotion work and emotional transnationality and suggests guidelines on how to broaden these analytical views in a non-pathological direction.

Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration

“…In her paper on emotions and migration, Yvone Albrecht gives a thorough list of previous studies and highlights the crucial studies done until now (Albrecht 2016). She highlights the term "emotion work" which she defines as a cognitive modification of the Hochschild`s notion that "based on our feelings we develop our own view of the world" (Hochschild 1983, 41).…”

“…One of the studies that creatively uses the term "emotion work" is a study of a Swedish sociologist Mona Linqvist (Linqvist 2013) and it is concerned with the coping mechanisms of the integration process using the work of emotions (Albrecht 2016). Linqvist is referring to something she coins "foreign habitus" drawing from Bourdieu, which migrants adopt in order to create and sustain their "migrant self".…”

“…Seeing migration in this way does not leave us enough room to investigate the different causes and ways in which people migrate. Migration could be understood as an experience of biographical discontinuity, which does not, by default, have to be traumatic and involve crises (Albrecht 2016). Migrants are not only passive sufferers of conditions of migration, therefore they have to be brought back into the narratives of migration as they are the subjects of it, which is not so often done when the emotional aspects of migration are invoked.…”

“…There is an emerging field of approaches considering the emotional implications of migration as a relatively new field, that are inextricably tied to the ambiguities of mobility, but the papers mostly tackle emotions in pathological and therapeutic terms, meaning that the potential of these approaches is not exploited to its fullest (Albrecht 2016). In this paper I am trying to propose a different approach towards migration and also answer to the previously stated question.…”

Emotional reflexivity in contexts of migration: How the consideration of internal processes is necessary to explain agency

“…That poses new challenges for the individual -especially in migration contexts. Clear demarcations and unwavering feelings of belonging are often not possible "just like that" (Albrecht, 2016). Hence, dealing with ambivalence is one of the main challenges in migration processes (Amelina, 2013, p. 145).…”