Aspiration Gaps and Ambivalence in Onward Immobilities Within the European Economic Area

Abstract This article explores the mismatches between individuals’ life aspirations and their capabilities to realize them in contexts of onward migration. Through the lens of Aspirations-Capabilities approaches (Carling, 2002; de Haas, 2003) which capture the interaction between structure and agency in migration processes, this study asks how people with migration trajectories characterised by complex non-linear spatial trajectories, with both internal and international (im)mobilities, perceive and reflect upon structural contradictions and how these reflections impact their subsequent (im)mobilities. The study takes an actor-centred social constructionist approach to explore what seems to be a paradox between movement and immobility over the life course and offer more nuanced interpretations of onward migration trajectories. The empirical study is based on the experiences of ten Moroccan-born individuals (mainly men who were naturalised in Spain) who migrated onwards to Norway in the early 2010s. The research is based on secondary data, in-depth interviews, fieldwork observations, and informal interviews conducted in Oslo and Barcelona between 2016 and 2017. The study enriches the conceptualisation of post-migration immobility by incorporating dimensions beyond the absence of spatial movement. This “onward immobility” allows us to uncover alternative explanations for aspiration gaps and ambivalence in contexts of migration. High expectations over the migration process, combined with stagnation and deterioration over the life course at both the individual and structural levels, lead to aspiration gaps that sustain the mobility-immobility paradox over time. These aspiration gaps trigger ambivalence, self-examination, and transformations of life priorities and aspirations. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the political and emotional dimensions of migration processes and theorise individuals’ experiences of social inequality, labour market segregation, and exclusion over the migration process.