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Keywords:

  • everyday;
  • migration;
  • materiality;
  • sociality;
  • theory

Abstract

In order to provide a framework for the four papers in this special issue, this editorial foregrounds the relevance of studying migration from the perspective of everyday matters. We examine the multiple and overlapping meanings associated with the idea of the everyday and what these conceptualisations offer to migration studies. In particular, we suggest that understanding sociality and materiality as part of the experience of migration can help to illuminate migrants' everyday experiences as well as refine accepted notions of the everyday. We introduce how the papers engage with the social relations and material cultures that constitute experiences of migration in different contexts and via a variety of methodologies that lend insights into understandings of migration. In the conclusion we reflect on some of the ways in which studying the everyday can help to inform not just academic agendas but also policy and community programmes in order to better address migrants' experiences and needs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.