Mapping the “middle-spaces” of migration: towards a linked ecology approach to migration industry, migration infrastructure, and migration brokerage

Abstract

Responding to recent calls in migration studies to focus on the understudied “middle-space of migration,” this article critically evaluates the available literature on migration industry, migration infrastructures, and migration brokerage. Recognizing their value, we propose to move on through a step of “de-theorizing,” to address their mutual theoretical tensions and inconsistencies. By focusing on the basic notion of “migration routes,” simply defined as spatially structured networks of places and segments bridging places of origin, transit, and destination, we offer a common analytical framework to approach the actors, infrastructures, and practices involved in moving migrants, thus leveraging geography’s emphasis on space and space-making processes. We then borrow the concept of “linked ecology” from Andrew Abbott, to capture the complex interactions involved in shaping individual routes. In doing so, we hope to offer a new perspective to approach the middle-spaces of migration and design future research programs.