Joëlle Moret

University of Neuchâtel | UniNE · Laboratoire d’études des processus sociaux

Cross-border marriages between citizens with a migration background and spouses from non-EU countries have been politicised and restricted across Europe. This article simultaneously applies the analytical lenses of bordering and boundary work to this issue and de-centres the perspective by investigating the consequences of these restrictions not on...

This paper examines how spouses waiting in Turkey to be reunited with their partner in Europe experience border regimes and deal with the transnationalised discourses on ‘marriage migrants’ they encounter. It is based on the analysis of a single narrative interview, that of a woman taking German classes at Goethe Institute in Istanbul in order to p...

Marriages that involve the migration of at least one of the spouses challenge two intersecting facets of the politics of belonging: the making of the ‘good and legitimate citizens’ and the ‘acceptable family’. In Europe, cross-border marriages have been the target of increasing state controls, an issue of public concern and the object of scholarly...

This chapter presents a novel and comprehensive typology of the post-migration mobility practices that European Somalis may undertake after having settled in a place that has since become their country of residence. The six ideal types are described: star-shaped mobility; pendular mobility; secondary migration; temporary visits to the country of or...

Grounded in the literature theorising cross-border mobility as an unequally distributed resource, this chapter develops the following argument: mobility is more than a practice or a strategy that people “do”; it is also, under certain conditions, a form of capital that one may possess and mobilise to pursue advantages. While “mobility practices” re...

This chapter offers an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms through which some migrants concretely activate their mobility capital, using the detailed life stories of two women and one man. Migrants’ strategic circulation of assets builds on differences in their social position in different contexts and on differentials in the valuation of their...

This chapter restates the book’s main arguments and contextualises them within wider contemporary theoretical and empirical debates in migration, transnational and mobility studies. It also discusses the generalisation potential of the study’s results. The migrants in the study are representative neither of all migrants, nor of all Somali migrants....

Based on a qualitative study on migrants of Somali origin who have settled in Europe for at least a decade, this open access book offers a ground-breaking exploration of the idea of mobility, both empirically and theoretically. It draws a comprehensive typology of the varied “post-migration mobility practices” developed by these migrants from their...

Based on ethnographic material, this article explores how three groups of apprentices negotiate masculinities in the specific setting of a male-dominated vocational school in Switzerland dedicated to the building trades. We use an intersectional and relational perspective to highlight how the institutional setting of the school – mirroring wider so...

Based on a case study of Somali migrants who have been living in Europe for at least a decade, this paper challenges the view that post-migration life is sedentary and pleads for a dialogue between mobility studies and migration studies. It explores the various cross-border mobility practices these migrants may undertake from their country of resid...

Based on ethnographic material, this article explores how three groups of apprentices negotiate masculinities in the specific setting of a male-dominated vocational school in Switzerland dedicated to the building trades. We use an intersectional and relational perspective to highlight how the institutional setting of the school—mirroring wider soci...

Dans un canton laïc, il est intéressant d’examiner comment on parle de religion. Nous nous intéressons à la manière dont de jeunes adultes neuchâtelois⋅e⋅s font mention de la religion et la laïcité – la leur, celle des autres – au quotidien, dans leur rapport aux autres et face à des questions personnelles. Il apparaît que, si les jeunes semblent b...

Comme tout jeune, les enfants d’immigrés doivent trouver leur place dans la société dans laquelle ils vivent. Ce qui les singularise par rapport à leurs contemporains est la nécessité d’asseoir la légitimité de leur présence dans cette société qui tarde à les reconnaître comme uns des leurs. La reconnaissance passe par l’insertion consolidée dans l...

Based on a qualitative study, this article explores post-migration mobility practices developed by Somali women and men who have settled in Europe. It focuses on the ‘politics of mobility’, considering cross-border mobility an unequally distributed resource through which people access different forms of capital, and thus an element of social differ...

Based on a study on migrants of Somali origin settled in Europe, this dissertation interrogates the idea of mobility both empirically and theoretically. Beginning from the observation that a migratory trajectory does not necessarily end in sedentarity, I analyse the different ways in which some migrants move and cross borders from their country of...

The binary opposition between ‘equal European women’ and ‘oppressed Muslim women’ has become a powerful representation in Switzerland and throughout Europe. Yet little is empirically known about the mechanisms through which actors in their everyday lives (re)produce this prominent construction. In this mixed-method study with young adults in a Fren...

Certaines personnes migrantes sont actives, socialement, économiquement ou politiquement, dans un espace transnational : leurs stratégies s’ancrent notamment dans des pratiques de mobilité élevée. Cet article s’appuie sur des entretiens qualitatifs menés auprès d’hommes et de femmes d’origine somalienne résidant en Suisse. Il vise à décrire ces pra...

In many European countries, cultural and religious diversity is increasingly discussed as being a fundamental problem. This paper addresses this issue by applying the theoretical perspective of boundary work: On behalf of a mixed-method-study with young adults, we explore how public discursive constructions about 'differences' are used and interpre...

Using ethnographic material, this article analyzes the processes at work in the construction of valued masculinity among young men in a Swiss vocational school. By adopting a theoretical boundary-making approach, we argue that double boundary work takes place in order to assert a specific form of hegemonic masculinity as the only legitimate way to...

The idea of boundary work has become a key concept in studies on ethnicity and provides new theoretical insights into the social organisation of cultural difference. People articulate ethnic boundaries in everyday interactions using conceptual distinctions to construct notions of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This study is based on an empirical case study (ethn...

Cet article soulève la question du rapport que les jeunes de confession musulmane vivant dans le Canton de Neuchâtel entretiennent avec leur religion et avec les autres jeunes. Il questionne la supposition selon laquelle ces jeunes auraient un rapport plus assidu à la religion. L’analyse s’appuie sur des données quantitatives obtenues lors d’une en...

Les trajectoires et les stratégies des personnes en mobilité montrent des caractéristiques fort diverses. en prenant l’exemple des hommes et des femmes originaires de somalie, cet article vise à décrire certaines des stratégies de mobilité (ou d’immobilité) qu’ils et elles mettent en œuvre au cours de trajectoires souvent complexes. il évoque aussi...

La problématique de la traite d'êtres humains a pris une ampleur considérable au cours des dernières années, tant dans la sphère médiatique que dans l'agenda politique de la plupart des gouvernements et de nombreuses ONG. Pourtant, en Suisse comme ailleurs, les connaissances sur ce thème complexe sont encore lacun-aires. Cette étude a pour objectif...

Somalis have been leaving their country for the last fifteen years, fleeing civil war, difficult economic conditions, drought and famine, and now constitute one of the largest diasporas in the world. Organized in the framework of collaboration between UNHCR and different countries, this research focuses on the secondary movements of Somali refugees...

Bien qu’elle reste numériquement modeste, la population concernée par l’asile originaire de l’Afrique subsaharienne a connu une croissance récente en Suisse et suscité d’importants débats. Force est cependant de constater que cette population et ses motifs de migration restent mal connus. Ce rapport fait partie d'une étude mandatée par l'Office féd...

Ce rapport est le résultat d’une étude sur l’intégration des travailleuses et des travailleurs migrant/es de la première génération sur les lieux de travail en Suisse. Mettant le doigt sur les problèmes majeurs qui se posent dans ce domaine, il vise également à éclairer les mesures et les solutions que les différents acteurs peuvent mettre en ¦uvre...

This study describes the profile of the Somali population living in Switzerland, as well as highlights their migration histories and trajectories. The analysis is complemented by a detailed insight into the living conditions and asylum policies in Switzerland and other host countries along the route. The aim of this double-layer analysis (micro and...

La présente étude vise à dresser, à partir des données du Panel suisse des ménages (PSM), un tableau général des modes de vie de communautés ou collectivités définies selon l’origine, et de discuter les similitudes ou différences observées entre les collectivités dans de nombreux domaines de la vie quotidienne. Elle montre comment une enquête natio...

Mobil sein zu können, setzt eine Reihe von Rahmenbedingungen voraus. Am Beispiel der Somali in der Schweiz wird gezeigt, dass sowohl ein gut funktionierendes familiäres und soziales Netz als auch möglichst günstige Aufenthaltsbedingungen notwendig sind. Je besser der rechtliche Status umso grösser wird der Bewegungsspielraum. Personen mit «guten» M...