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Return Migration to Afghanistan pp 69–93Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Meanings of and Motivations for Return

Deconstructing the Complexity of Voluntary and Involuntary Return

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Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

Abstract

This chapter proposes an analytical framework for investigating the complex meanings of and motivations for migration and return. Both policy and research have so far insufficiently addressed the complexity of voluntary and involuntary return. The proposed framework recognizes migration and return as processes that take place under different structural circumstances, with different capacities and desires, creating different levels of agency. The complex and sometimes seemingly contradictory narratives of Afghan returnees are discussed to deconstruct the policy-oriented dichotomy between voluntary and involuntary return. In conclusion, while pleading that the complexities of return be taken into account, the author proposes to centralize post-return mobility as an indicator for voluntary or involuntary return.

This chapter is based on Van Houte, Marieke, Melissa Siegel and Tine Davids. 2016. “Deconstructing the Meanings of and Motivations for Migration: An Afghan Return Migration Case Study.” Comparative Migration Studies. 4(1): 21. doi: 10.1186/s40878-016-0042-y.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To protect the privacy of the participants in this study, all names are pseudonyms. For the same reason, details such as towns or countries of residence are sometimes intentionally unspecified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Migration Institute Department of International Development, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Marieke van Houte

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  1. Marieke van Houte
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van Houte, M. (2016). Meanings of and Motivations for Return. In: Return Migration to Afghanistan. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40775-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40775-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40774-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40775-3

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