Beyond the ‘Migrant Network’? Exploring Assistance Received in the Migration of Brazilians to Portugal and the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper explores the tenability of three important critiques to the 'migrant network' approach in migration studies: (1) the narrow focus on kin and community members, which connect prospective migrants in origin countries with immigrants in the destination areas, failing to take due account of sources of assistance beyond the 'migrant network' like institutional or online sources; (2) that it is misleading to assume a general pattern in the role of migrant networks in migration, regardless of contexts of arrival or departure, including the scale and history of migration or the immigration regime; and (3) that 'migrant networks' are not equally relevant to all migrants, and that important differences may exist between labour migrants and other types of migrants like family migrants or students. Drawing on survey data on the migration of Brazilians to Portugal and the Netherlands we find support for these critiques but also reaffirm the relevance of 'migrant networks'.

Labour trafficking in Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands and the role of Dutch immigration policies. A qualitative analysis of investigative case files

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Reciprocity Within Migrant Networks: The Role of Social Support for Employment

“…Social networks, in which migrants are embedded, have been consistently found to be crucial for the production and persistence of different forms of inequalities -in finding jobs (Crul et al, 2017;Granovetter, 1973Granovetter, , 1985, housing (Van Meeteren & Pereira, 2018), and securing better health conditions (Bilecen et al, 2015;Menjivar, 2002). Knowing diverse people who have resources such as information, brings advantages, while having a closed social circle may cause redundancy of resources, and thus disadvantage, pinpointing the importance of the network structure (Burt, 2005).…”