Exploring the social and historical dimensions of migration in the European context with special reference to the Greek case

This thesis examines migration as a contemporary social phenomenon. Adopting Marxian dialectics, migration is defined as a form and as a process of social relations. Thus, migration exists as a differentiated but also as an internal part of social totality. This social totality, as a historical result, constitutes the general social framework within which migration is examined. This study of migration starts from the examination of this particular social organisation of social relations. Migration as an international phenomenon is explored through migration policies and flows, alongside with the relationship between national and international contexts. Moreover, the analysis focuses on a new territorial political organisation, the EU, and its interaction with migration. Furthermore, this study explores the ways that migration is constructed in a specific national context, that of the Greek state. Particularly, the interest in on the ways that migration is included in the social and political process in Greek society. Finally, the analysis focuses on people's experience as migrants in Greece, which is examined through structural social characteristics and attitudes, in order to illustrate that migration means a process of being constructed as a 'migrant' depending on both general and specific social contexts