Social suffering and return migrations: A conceptual proposal

Abstract

This article highlights how social suffering, conceived of as a manifestation of social oppression and injustice incorporated into the individual, has attributes that are evident in the different stages of the migratory return, which are marked by transnational and multilocal processes. To this end, the VIA Model – composed of the analytical axes of vulnerability, uncertainty and assistance – allows for the description, interpretation and analysis of social suffering during the return process through a multilevel analysis that connects the perceptions and experiences of the actors with structural inequalities.