Time, temporality, and migration in the Global South: a critical reading

This introductory paper presents the state of the art in the literature on the conceptual relationship between migration and temporality, by discussing and critically addressing different approaches. It argues that time and temporality are useful frameworks to discuss inequalities in migration, especially in relation to the analysis of decision making, the effects of irregularity on migrants’ lives, the construction of the social meaning of time, the experiences of different generations and their outcomes in power dynamics both in countries of origin and destination. The reasons that this perspective has received scarce attention in the analysis of South-South mobility, and the actual value of it in the analysis of inequalities, are discussed in this introductory contribution.