Fragmented migrant (her)stories: Multi-sited ethnography and feminist migration research

Abstract

In this chapter, I argue that multi-sited ethnography is a powerful tool for doing more rigorous migration research. When guided by a feminist perspective, this methodology destabilizes relations of power between researcher and participants. It also opens opportunities to build links of solidarity across differences such as migrant/citizenship status, race, religion, gender, sexuality, or socio-economic class. The chapter begins with an overview of the concepts of situated knowledge, positionality, and difference as they have been elaborated in feminist and migration scholarship. These are concepts I challenge throughout the chapter. I introduce multi-sited ethnography as a methodology particularly relevant in migration studies, and the discussion draws directly from my own research on the migration of Senegalese women to Spain. I argue that multi-sited ethnography offers insights for research and engagement in at least three areas overlooked by traditional single-sited ethnography: the constitutive connections between different spaces of migration, the possibility of fostering reciprocity and political participation across borders, and the strategic agency of migrants. These strengths make multi-sited research a solid foundation for feminist work in migration studies.