Trajectories of migration aspirations through urban and temporal lenses: rethinking (im)mobility decision-making in Dakar, Senegal

This article explores migration aspirations through an integrated urban and temporal lens, addressing a gap in existing research that, while recognizing the interplay of multiple interrelated factors, often neglects how aspirations for mobility and immobility—understood as complementary phenomena—evolve over time within specific urban contexts. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Dakar—a historically significant hub for migration within and beyond Senegal— the study highlights the city’s role in shaping the decision-making processes of migrants who moved to and settled in Dakar from rural areas or smaller cities, regardless of their future migration intentions. By analyzing their social representations and narratives of migration and urban experience, we introduce the concept of a “trajectory of migration aspirations” to capture how imagined and enacted mobility and immobility form a continuum, unfolding over time and across spaces in migrants’ experiences, despite their non-linearity and fragmentation. Examining the differing experiences of migrants according to their temporal phase of settlement in Dakar, the article underscores the value of a long-term analytical approach, revealing the emplaced and temporal nature of migration decisions wherein mixed and often contradictory motivations to move or stay coexist. This dual perspective moves beyond viewing Dakar as a mere backdrop, instead positioning it as co-constitutive of mobility and immobility aspirations. It shows how aspirations evolve over the life course through a mix of causalities, unplanned opportunities, and contingencies.