Return migration to Afghanistan : moving back or moving forward? / Marieke Van Houte.

Abstract: This book overcomes the dichotomies, generalizations and empirical shortcomings that surround the understanding of return migration within the migration--development--peace-building nexus. Using the concept of multidimensional embeddedness, it provides an encompassing view of returnees' identification with and participation in one or multiple spaces of belonging. It introduces Afghan return migration from Europe as a relevant case study, since the country's protracted history of conflict and migration shows how the globally changing political discourses of recent decades have shaped migration strategies. The author's findings highlight the fact that policy is responding inadequately to complex issues of migration, conflict, development and return, since the expectations on which it is based only account for a small minority of returnees. This thought-provoking book will appeal to scholars of migration and refugee studies, as well as a wider audience of sociologists, anthropologists, demographers and policy makers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-231) and index.

Contents: Dedication; Acknowledgements; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; 1: Introduction; 1.1 The Rise of Return Migration as a Multi-­tool for Policy; 1.1.1 From Cold War Protection to Return Migrants as Agents of Change; 1.1.2 Return as Restoring Order: Is Return Going Home?; 1.1.3 Return as Change: Contributing to Human Capital and Peace or Perpetuating Inequality and Conflict?; 1.1.4 What Kind of Returnees? Meanings of and Motivations for Mobility; 1.1.5 The Need for a Broader Perspective; 1.2 Research Question 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives on Return and Development: Structure, Agency, or Structure and Agency?1.3.1 Neoclassical Approach: Optimistic Views Based on Individual Agency; 1.3.2 Structuralism: Pessimistic Views Based on Structual Constraints; 1.3.3 Post-structuralism: Agency and Structure Combined; Transnationalism: Post-structuralism in a Globalized World; 1.3.4 Embeddedness: A Multidimensional Approach to Studying Transnational Realities; 1.4 Methods; 1.5 Outline of This Book; 1.6 Conclusion; References; 2: Afghanistan; 2.1 Why Afghanistan as a Case Study? 2.2 A Political History of Conflict, Migration and Return2.2.1 State Building and Migration; 2.2.2 Conflicts and Migration; Escaping Communist Rule and Cold War Violence; Escaping Civil War Under Mujahedeen Rule; Escaping Ethnic Cleansing and Violence Under Taliban Rule; Post-Taliban Reconstruction, Return and Migration; 2012; 2014 and After; 2.2.3 Legacy of Four Decades of Conflict and Future Mobility Perspectives; 2.3 Afghan Migration to Europe; 2.3.1 Composition of the Group of Afghans in Europe; 2.3.2 Experiences of Return from Europe to Afghanistan Return with Permanent Legal Status in the Host Country Return Without Permanent Legal Status in the Host Country; 2.4 Conclusion; References; 3: Meanings of and Motivations for Return; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Structure and Agency, Capacities and Desires in Return; 3.2.1 Structure and Agency; 3.2.2 Desire and Capacity; 3.2.3 Towards a Comprehensive Framework; 3.3 Structural Reality of Afghan Conflict and Migration; 3.4 Narratives of Return; 3.4.1 Return Without Permanent Legal Status in the Host Country; 3.4.2 Return with Permanent Legal Status in the Host Country 3.5 Conclusion: Deconstructing the Meanings of and Motivations for ReturnReferences; 4: The Hierarchization of Migration; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Multidimensional Embeddedness; 4.3 "Waves" of Afghan Migration; 4.4 Voluntary and Involuntary Return; 4.4.1 Nadir; 4.4.2 Omar; 4.5 Discussion: Migration and Return Migration as a Reinforcement of Socio-Economic Stratification; 4.6 Conclusion; References; 5: Love (n)or Marriage; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Sample and Methods; 5.3 Identity, Marriage, Migration and Change.

English