What migrant narratives can tell us about the role of class in migration (and about class in general)

Social class is undoubtedly an important aspect of international migration. Socio-economic factors contribute to shaping access to mobility and decisions to migrate, while migration often entails a reconfiguration of class positions following trajectories of upwards, downwards or ‘contradictory’ class mobility (Cederberg, 2017; Parrenas, 2015). Class is also an important dimension of the growing distinction between ‘wanted’ and ‘unwanted’ migrants in political discourse and migration policy (Bonjour & Chauvin, 2018), and different kinds of class-based resources impact migrants' rights, opportunities and experiences (Cederberg, 2017; Van Hear, 2014).

While social class had been less of a focus than other structures of inequality in migration research for some time, the topic has gained more attention recently, and it has been studied from different angles. In my research, I have addressed class as one of several social structures and axes of inequality that intersect to shape migrants' experiences and positions in different ways, and that impact on the broader process of social integration. For exploring the role of class in migration, I have found narrative interviews to be valuable tools (e.g. Riessman, 2008). In narrative interviews, research participants are asked to talk freely about their experiences of and perspectives on different issues and areas; in turn, the interviewer may pick up on points that have been made or events that have been mentioned, or highlight issues that may not have been addressed thus far in the interview, and ask for further or additional narrations.

Using this method can provide access to rich, detailed information about migrants’ class trajectories and how they are positioned in class hierarchies in different social contexts, which is important when studying class in a transnational setting (Kelly & Lusis, 2006; Nowicka, 2013). For instance, an increase in income that enables socio-economic advancement for one's family in the sending country context may be accompanied by professional downgrading and a decline in social status in the receiving country. Migrants may also enjoy a different position and status within the migrant community, on the one hand, and majority society, on the other, which makes the picture even more complex (Kelly, 2012, cf. Anthias, 2002). Through narrative interviews, we can also gain insights into different aspects of class, including both material and symbolic dimensions (Anthias, 2001). I should note here that my understanding of class is informed by the ‘cultural turn’ in research on social class, inspired by Bourdieu's class theory (e.g. 1984, 1986). This means attending to not only occupation, income, property and wealth, but also a range of non-economic resources that contribute to class inequalities, such as social, cultural and educational resources. It also means exploring a range of different social and cultural practices through which class boundaries and hierarchies are maintained and reproduced, how class is experienced, and how individuals understand themselves in terms of class (e.g. Devine et al., 2005; Reay, 2005; Skeggs, 1997).

One important issue—and, for some, a central obstacle—for/when studying class in the context of migration concerns differences in what social class hierarchies look like across different contexts, where the meaning of class and indicators of social status might differ, where class intersects with other stratifying principles/hierarchies in different ways, and where there may be different systems in place for socio-economic classification. For researchers concerned with the large-scale mapping of class reproduction and/or class transformation over time or across generations, this poses obvious challenges. For research that is rather concerned with exploring class mechanisms qualitatively, researching class in the context of international migration is not only possible, but can in fact, I would argue, provide insights relevant for understanding and theorising class more generally. The necessary comparisons that come to be made through migrants’ narratives of class in different social contexts can provide novel perspectives and insights into different aspects of class. In addition, the life transformation involved in migrating between countries may enable new insights and provide a space for a more active reflection around different aspects of one's day-to-day life. Existential questions around the meaning and importance of different things can become more prominent, similar to other significant shifts in life, such as the transition to first-time parenthood (Miller, 2007) or retirement (Bengtsson & Flisbäck, 2017). Here, narrative interviews can capture people's broader experiences of and perspectives on transitions, but they may also in themselves provide an opportunity to make sense of, reflect upon, and articulate the different feelings, impressions, thoughts and experiences involved.

While migrant narratives give valuable knowledge of how class works and is experienced as well as understood, it is at the same time important to appreciate and attend to the fact that narratives are situated in particular contexts. They are shaped by the immediate context of the research encounter, that is, the interview setting and the conventions and social and power relations involved, as well as the language of the interview (Cederberg, 2014; Riessman, 2008). But they are also shaped by the broader sociocultural and political-economic contexts in which they are formed and articulated (Lawson, 2000). The frameworks of meaning we have access to shape how we make sense of and talk about our experiences, trajectories, positions and identities (Miller, 2007; Moen, 2006). This means that narratives of class (or the absence of class from some narratives) will vary across different contexts, but also between different individuals, depending on their social experience and the perspectives they have access to and are familiar with (cf. Cederberg, 2014; Sangster, 2009).

More generally, the fact that individual narratives in part reflect wider cultural narratives is important to highlight, including when our aim is to address social issues from the perspective of individuals or groups that can be considered marginalised in different ways. Dominant discourses, that is, frameworks of meaning that have come to be widely accepted or ‘taken for granted’, significantly shape how we understand society and our place within it; while migrants’ stories may provide powerful ‘counter-narratives’ by highlighting experiences/perspectives that stand in contrast to dominant discourses, they may also be framed, at least in part, through those same discourses (Cederberg, 2014, Lawson, 2000, cf. Johnson et al., 2004). When it comes to the question of class, the literature on neoliberal subjectivity provides useful insights here (e.g. Foucault, 2008; Rose, 1999). Insofar as the premise of a class-less society composed of individuals responsible for their own achievements and failures is accepted, the neoliberal subject contributes to the reproduction of the inequalities that form a key feature of contemporary capitalist society.

So, where does all this complexity leave the researcher using narrative methods to study social class and migration? While it is important to critically analyse how different frameworks of meaning shape narratives, it is at the same time crucial to value and respect the voices of those who share their stories in our research; there is also an important ethical dimension here (cf. Sangster, 2009). Ideas of multi-layered stories and the importance of multiple readings have very much influenced my thinking about doing and analysing interviews (cf. Johnson et al., 2004). Rather than seeking coherence and/or looking for the essence of the experience that forms the basis of the story, we try to uncover different layers that in combination can enable a deeper understanding of the phenomenon studied—even where different parts of a story may appear to be pulling in different directions. In fact, tensions, contradictions and ambivalent positions/experiences can at times provide us with the most interesting insights into the social processes we set out to explore. Regarding migrants’ stories, Lawson (2000) argues for their ‘theoretical potential’, found in the ‘critical edge’ offered by the ‘state of between-ness’ from which migrants speak, and the disjuncture between dominant discourses and migrants’ experiences. For all the reasons highlighted here, migrants’ multi-layered narratives of class can indeed offer valuable insights into complex class dynamics and processes in contemporary societies.

The opinions expressed in this Commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors, Editorial Board, International Organization for Migration nor John Wiley & Sons.