Involuntary Immobility and the Unfulfilled Rite of Passage: Implications for Migration Management in the Gambia, West Africa

Abstract

Gambia, the smallest country on the African continent, is one of the largest contributors, per capita, to irregular migrants in Europe. Aspirations to migrate are ingrained culturally, to the extent that they can be understood as a rite of passage. Unfilled rites, associated with involuntary immobility, have led to pervasive frustration and feelings of entrapment, locally referred to as having the nerves syndrome. This article explores the societal and cultural significance of migration in this context, exploring the meanings that this especially has for effective migration management. It provides evidence and context for the deep motives, embedded socially and culturally, for migration as a significant mechanism to maintain status and achievement of adulthood. In view of this, initiatives by foreign and domestic governments and NGOs to work on campaigns and strategies to entice citizens to remain and work at home should be carefully considered. Foreign policies and funds to so‐called empower youth to stay in their home countries may be misleadingly ineffective. The academic literature does not sufficiently address this.

Dynamics of immobility: Capability conversion among aspiring migrants in Pakistan

“…Recognizing that staying in place (at least temporarily) is entwined with mobility, a growing number of migration scholars are developing a research agenda on immobility. Defining immobility as “spatial…continuity in an individual's centre of gravity, or place of residence” (Schewel, 2019: 329), the immobility research agenda draws attention to the unintended and deeply emotional consequences of immobility (Conrad Suso, 2020), as well as aspiring migrants’ strategies for mitigating the consequences of immobility (Ortiga & Macabasag, 2020). It has additionally introduced the aspiration‐capability framework for understanding immobility.…”

“…This article's theoretical discussion and empirical findings contribute to the ongoing development of the aspiration‐capability framework for analysing (im)mobility (e.g. Conrad Suso, 2020; Schewel, 2019; Ortiga & Macabasag, 2020). They help elaborate the links between aspiration and capability, illustrating how “their interaction…[becomes] more complex over time” (Carling & Schewel, 2018: 959).…”

“…g . Conrad Suso, 2020, Ortiga & Macabasag, 2020), or when individuals desire to migrate but constraints on their capabilities prevent them from doing so (Carling, 2002; Schewel, 2019). Building on this work, I examine another dimension of the deterred migration experience: the financial consequences, including how these consequences vary across households based on their wealth.…”

“…13. 13. Future work could also explore the interplay of different kinds of consequences, such as the relationship between economic effects—what has been our focus—and psychological and emotions impacts (see Conrad Suso, 2020). …”

The homeless mind in a mobile world: An autoethnographic approach on cognitive immobility in international migration

“…Most migration research has focused on mobility, precisely why people move, how they move, and other processes associated with mobility and what happens during the voyage and transit, after arriving at a desirable or undesirable destination, and even upon return (Appadurai, 1996; Czaika & Kis-Katos, 2009; de Haas et al, 2020; Thravalou et al, 2021). And, more recently, immobility has garnered increased attention (Barcus & Werner, 2017; Carling, 2002; Conrad Suso, 2020; Schewel, 2020). Another stream of research of migration scholarship is emerging, focusing on mental travel rather than physical movement, and this strand is located at the nexus of cognition and migration.…”