Classes in transition: Intergenerational family trajectories and forced migration in historical context

Abstract

Flight trajectories are not only a matter of spatial mobility but are also concerned with social mobility. Class dynamics shape possibilities for action and the character of refugees’ networks. Moving or being forced to move and the planning of routes and destinations are closely interrelated with the migrant’s class at the outset of their journey. Migration is also related to previous trajectories of social mobility and the transmission of resources, knowledge and practices. Based on research on processes of flight from the war in Syria since 2011, in this article, we propose the reconstruction of life histories and family histories over several generations as a means of better understanding the relationship between class and (forced) migration. We argue that to reconstruct processes of social mobility in the context of flight, it is necessary to embed these processes in their socio-historical contexts in addition to considering the extent to which class positions are spatially bound or valid across different spaces. We shall detail these considerations while reconstructing the course of a migration from a multigenerational perspective – specifically, the social rise and fall over four generations of a Syriac Orthodox family who moved to Germany from the Syria–Turkey border. The study of the relationship between social mobility and migration requires consideration of the processes of class formation in the region of origin (a region characterised by postcolonial and socialist state formation) in relation to the region of arrival (the genesis of a migrant working class) and the transnational connections between both regions.