Congolese migrants’ lived experiences through a focus on South–South mobility.
Southern Routes draws on more than a decade of multi-sited ethnographic research of the Congolese diaspora, following migrants through various southern metropolises, including Accra, Cairo, Istanbul, Guangzhou and Rio de Janeiro. Centering migrants’ everyday experiences and narratives, the book traces the diverse journeys through which they navigate transnational, diasporic, and religious networks in pursuit of better lives. It highlights migrants’ agency, aspirations, risks and strategies as they contend with tightly controlled global migration regimes, foregrounding individual life trajectories often absent from the scholarly literature.
In a notable departure from most migration studies, the book emphasizes Congolese migration within global South cities, revealing interconnections shaped by family, kinship, religion, trade, and education, while also considering cases of onward travel to Europe and North America. In doing so, it examines how migrants confront securitized visa and border systems. Southern Routes offers original, grounded insights into contemporary African migration movements and the dynamics of transnational urban life.
By foregrounding South–South trajectories and the lived experiences of Congolese migrants, this book challenges Eurocentric perspectives and advances a decolonial approach to migration research. A valuable resource for scholars and students across different fields, including migration studies, anthropology and international politics. - Johara Berriane, University of the Bundeswehr Munich
Related titles
The Romero Memory
Judith Gruber (Editor), Jonas Van Mulder (Editor), Kim Christiaens (Editor), Veerle Draulans (Editor), Jacques Haers (Editor), Joren Janssens (Editor), Stephan Parmentier (Editor),
November 2026
Infrastructuring Arrival
Karel Arnaut (Editor), Luce Beeckmans (Editor), Bruno Meeus (Editor),
November 2026
Feminists Resisting Gendered Violence
Hemangini Gupta (Editor), Fiona Mackay (Editor), Jan Breckenridge (Editor), Louise Chappell (Editor), Rachna Mehra (Editor), Rukmini Sen (Editor), Mailin Suchting (Editor),
October 2026
A City in Practice
Aude Tournaye (Editor), Filip De Boeck (Editor), Picha Collective (Editor),
September 2026
German–Rapanui Entanglements
Cristián Moreno Pakarati (Editor), Diego Muñoz (Editor), Philipp Schorch (Editor),
August 2026
Jean Katambayi Mukendi
Johannes Muselaers (Editor), Stéphane Symons (Editor), Anne-Claire Schmitz (Editor), Emma Enderby (Editor),
April 2026
Brusselse plaatsnamen
Iadine Degryse (Editor), Benjamin Wayens (Editor), Chantal Kesteloot (Editor), Dennis De Vriese (Editor), Matthijs Degraeve (Editor),
April 2026
Nomadic Camera
Burcu Dogramaci (Editor), Winfried Gerling (Editor), Jens Jäger (Editor), Birgit Mersmann (Editor),
March 2026
Comics and the Global South
Andrea Aramburú (Editor), Dibyadyuti Roy (Editor), Joe Sutliff Sanders (Editor),
February 2026
Cartographies of Catastrophes
Laura Demeter (Editor), Carmen M. Enss (Editor), Piotr Kisiel (Editor), Carol Ludwig (Editor),
February 2026
