No Single Reason to Move: Mobility Decision-Making among Syrians and Palestinian Familiesin Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/1678-9857.ra.227369

Keywords:

Decision-making, ,Syrian conflict, Families, Brazil, Refugee, Mobility

Abstract

Since 2011, over six million people have left Syria. While numerous studies address this displacement, few specifically investigate family migration decision-making. This article contributes to this knowledge gap by focusing on the journeys of two families. Through analysing migration decision-making, I argue that there is no single reason to move; rather, mobility must be understood within the broader economic, political, and cultural dynamics. The study is based on an ethnography conducted between 2016 and 2020 in São Paulo, Brazil. The data reveals the fears, struggles, aspirations, and hopes involved in reaching a new destination and how social markers and structural contexts shape families’ journeys.

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Author Biography

  • Dr. Mirian Alves de Souza, Universidade Federal Fluminense

    Possui graduação em Geografia pela Universidade Federal Fluminense (IG/UFF-2003), Mestrado em Antropologia pelo Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia da Universidade Federal Fluminense (PPGA/UFF-2006), Doutorado em Antropologia (PPGA/UFF-2013), com bolsa-sanduíche na University of Western Ontario, Canadá (CAPES-UWO-2011). É Professora Adjunta do Departamento de Antropologia da UFF (desde 2017) e pesquisadora do Núcleo de Estudos do Oriente Médio NEOM/UFF e Refugee Outreach Research Network ROR-n. Atualmente (2023-2024), é pesquisadora visitante na Universidade de Birmingham, Inglaterra (Institute for Research into Superdiversity) e Jovem Cientista do Nosso Estado FAPERJ (2022-2024). Atuou como pesquisadora/bolsista da Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa (FCRB), 2015-2017 e do Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA), 2020-2021.Tem experiência na área de Antropologia, com ênfase principalmente nos seguintes temas: ativismo cigano, refugiados do conflito sírio, refúgio, migração e (i)mobilidades.

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Published

2025-12-02

Issue

Section

Special Issue Producing Regimes of Asylum in Brazil and Italy

How to Cite

Alves de Souza, M. (2025). No Single Reason to Move: Mobility Decision-Making among Syrians and Palestinian Familiesin Brazil. Revista De Antropologia, 68. https://doi.org/10.11606/1678-9857.ra.227369