Social Position and Migrant Networks in International Migration from Africa to Europe

Ample prior research shows that social capital is contingent on a person's position in society and is, consequently, a significant factor in perpetuating and amplifying social inequalities. In contrast, migration scholarship is relatively quiet about how social position may stratify the role of migrant networks, and instead conceptualizes migrant networks as broadening access to migration. This paper integrates theoretical insights from these two lines of research to offer a novel contribution on the interplay between social stratification and migrant networks. We examine three pathways—network access, network mobilization, and network returns—through which social position may shape migrant networks and, as such, reinforce inequalities in migration. To do so, we employ retrospective data from the multi-sited Migration between Africa and Europe survey that allows us to account for the dynamic nature of migrant networks and to distinguish among these pathways. Our study highlights significant stratification in access, mobilization, and returns to migrant networks among individuals in different social positions, operationalized as educational attainment. In a context of positive educational selectivity such as sub-Saharan African migration to Europe, access to migrant networks increases substantially with higher social position. And while lower-educated individuals rely more financially on migrant networks, which offer them larger relative gains, these networks ultimately exacerbate initial advantages and amplify social inequalities in migration opportunities.