Constraints and transgressions in journeys of displacement

Schapendonk and Belloni dive into the ways journeys of displacement involve processes of both constraints and agency. In so doing, they review the growing body of literature on ‘migration journeys’ and ‘trajectories’—with a particular focus on African fragmented migration across international borders. A focus on trajectories, the authors argue, has the potential to blur conventional distinctions between forced and voluntary migration. While accounting for the risks, violence, and experience of exclusion, this focus allows them to include elements that are often associated with ‘voluntary’ processes of migration, such as choice, personal desires, and social networks. These insights prevent the chapter from falling into over-victimised and essentialist views on displacement. However, as Schapendonk and Belloni argue, this is different from saying that migrants do not deserve institutional protection