Overcoming and Reproducing Inequalities: Mediated Migration in the “Global South”

Abstract

In many societies, it is not possible to migrate without the assistance of one or more intermediaries, including friends, family, recruiters, travel agents, “smugglers” and many others. In these contexts, brokerage is viewed as a normalised and entirely legitimate cultural practice to navigate many aspects of everyday life. Whilst not new, the nature of intermediaries’ involvement in migration has dramatically transformed over the past 50 years. Today, intermediaries are significant actors in influencing how migration happens, migrants’ experiences of migration as well as in shaping developmental outcomes. From migrants’ perspectives, intermediaries make mobility possible in a world in which immobility is often the norm. This chapter poses the question: how are global inequalities in relation to migration mediated by intermediaries? To address it, the authors review the relationships between intermediaries, mediated migration and inequalities associated with (1) borders, (2) income and poverty and (3) living in new destinations.