New European Mobilities at times of Crisis: Emigration Aspirations and Practices of Young Greek Adults

ended

With Southern Europe suffering deeply from the financial crisis, a renewed public discussion on emigration from this region has emerged. The European South, which had only recently become a destination for immigration, seems to be experiencing a new major emigration wave. This is especially true for Greece, the country which has been hit hardest by the economic crisis and concomitant austerity measures. Despite public attention on the matter, however, little is known about who is emigrating, what alternative mobility strategies are considered and pursued, or the reasons underling migration decisions. EUMIGRE will provide an answer to these questions by introducing an innovative mixed methods approach. This approach allows identifying and studying a sizeable and diverse group of young adults whose spatial and social trajectories are retrospectively traced to explore the influence of the current crisis on their strategies. In so doing, it will also contribute to migration theory at a period when space-time flexibilizations, processes of neoliberalization, and the economic crisis are changing established modalities of and motivations for migration in ways that render the emigration–immigration country distinction obsolete.