Seminar | The networked refugee: The role of transnational networks in the journeys across the Mediterranean

25.10.2022

Scientific coordinator: Daria Panebianco, University of Padua

October 25, 2022 from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

Venue: Sala Seminari 2, Palazzo Ca' Dottori - via del Santo 28, Padova

Associate Professor Alessio D'Angelo 
School of Sociology and Social Policy - University of Nottingham
Visiting Scholar at the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies - University of Padova

The experience of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has been represented as that of passive components of large-scale human flows driven by conflicts, migration policies and smuggling. This seminar proposes a reflection on the advantages of using a social network lens to better understand these experiences at a micro and meso level, bringing to the fore the personal and relational dimensions. By examining the narratives of people who reached the coasts of Sicily (Italy) via the Libyan route, the seminar highlights the key role of local and transnational ties at every single juncture of these very long, often serendipitous journeys. The concept of ‘journey’ is used to frame this analysis, but also to debunk some of the deterministic, static and Euro-centred assumptions which have characterised mainstream narratives and some scholarly debates. Thus, the refugee journey emerges as a fluid process characterised by the continuous deconstruction and reconstruction of social networks.