Geography of belonging: nostalgic attachment, transnational home and global mobility among Romanian immigrants in Spain

Abstract

This article explores how human global mobility is linked to a sense of home and belonging and outlines ways in which European Union (EU) enlargement could contribute to broader debates about migration, both empirically and theoretically. To accomplish this aim, I use the context of Romanian migration to Spain. Since EU enlargement in 2007, Spain has emerged as a major destination for Romanian migrants. The main argument of the paper is that transformations in the EU over the past 20 years through its open border policy have changed migrant workers into EU movers, and this change affects people's perceptions about sense of home. This analysis is prompted by a qualitative and narrative turn in migration studies, and an emphasis on new mobility pathways in accounting for the embodied dimensions of migration. Key to the paper is an analysis of how people can maintain a sense of home while being on the move. It attempts to demonstrate that migrants' experiences of belonging in their host country may vary greatly depending on the time of movement, the politics of EU borders, the nature of mobility and personal and individual circumstances.

Keywords:

• belonging
• global mobility
• transnational home
• mobile citizens
• Romanian immigrants
• nostalgia

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the Editor, for her extraordinary generosity of time, feedback and support.

Funding

This article comes as a result of the research project entitled “Eastern European Migration to Spain in the context of border geopolitics: circulatory mobility and return” [grant number CSO 2010-14870], with funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and coordination by the author (PhD Researcher “Ramón y Cajal” [grant number RyC 2009-03834]).

Notes

1. Source: http://www.mtin.es/en/index.htm accessed on 20 March 2013.

2. Source: Spanish National Institute of Statistics, Population Register, national results, 1996–2009, http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=%2Ft20/e245&file=inebase&L=1, accessed on 2 October 2012.

3. Some 604,357 immigrants in Spain were legalised in 2005. Ministry of Interior 2007.

4. European Commission (2011).

5. The difficulty and the need to work in any sort of employment is a specific characteristic of the mobility among Romanians, who are perceived to be economic immigrants and are, therefore, relegated to low-skilled jobs.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This article comes as a result of the research project entitled “Eastern European Migration to Spain in the context of border geopolitics: circulatory mobility and return” [grant number CSO 2010-14870], with funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and coordination by the author (PhD Researcher “Ramón y Cajal” [grant number RyC 2009-03834]).