Introduction Multiple Transitions and Irregular Migration in Ethiopia

This introductory chapter argues that consideration of multiple transitions sending communities and countries go through, and assemblage thinking will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of irregular migration from the perspective of sending communities. The chapter considers five co-occurring transitions with differing logics: demographic, political, socio-economic, youth to adulthood, and global. These transitions provide the structural opportunities and constraints which influence migration decision making of prospective migrants, their family and the local community. Assemblage of migration—defined as a process within which various players, including prospective migrants, brokers and traffickers, state officials, formal and informal institutions link in a harmonious as well as competitive fashion to shape outward migration from Ethiopia—is key to understanding the agency of migrants and sending communities. It also helps us to better understand the complexity of migration and its fluidity, i.e., as patterns of migration get re-constructed in response to changes in sending, transit and destination countries. Assemblage thinking captures the agency of actors at different levels, thereby dislodging the disproportionate attention paid to destination countries. Lastly, the chapter introduces the eleven chapters included in the book.