A rhythmanalysis of the (de)/(re)territorialisation of self in international migration

Abstract

Drawing empirically on the case of Romanian migrants in the UK, this paper reflects on some of the ways in which the intertwined rhythms of education, work, housing, home, place, family and body combine and contribute to the (de)/(re)territorialisation of the self in migration. While rhythmanalysis gained currency in the study of urban processes, I take the challenge of exploring its potential for understanding migrants’ experiences of traversing, ignoring, struggling against or working with assemblages of all sorts and thereby reworking their selves. To pursue my goal, I engage with the visual method of the River of Life, a hand-drawing of one’s own migration trajectory, which is used for elicitation in interviews. I show how structural alignments, random encounters and personal desires produce specific rhythmical formations (of different patterns, pitch and frequency, energy and intensity) along which participants work relationally to (de)/(re)territorialise their changing selves as they travel through cultures, places and experiences. Whether migrants ‘succeed’ or ‘fail’ to achieve their desires, their becoming entails confusion but also excitement over who they are, where they should be and whether return to what once was is possible.