Migrant immobilities in the periphery: insights from the Vietnam-Russia corridor

Abstract

Migration and mobility tend to be used interchangeably in migration studies. This runs the risk of oversimplifying migrants’ (im)mobility aspirations and capability, taking for granted their agency and control of their own migration trajectory. Drawing on ethnographic research on Vietnamese migrants trading at Moscow markets, this paper offers original insights into migrant immobilities, highlighting the social technologies and social imaginaries that arise from their gendered, raced, and classed experiences of immobilisation. Migrants’ immobilities, whether voluntary or involuntary, have a profound impact on their sense making of self and aspirations for the future. The study enriches our understanding of the complex relationship between migration and mobility and the various ways in which it shapes social practice, identity and belonging.