Goa to Paris: migration trajectories, settlement struggles, and social networks

ABSTRACT

The research presented contributes to the literature on migrant settlement and social capital and to the growing body of literature on Goan migration. Previous studies on outflows from Goa bring out the distinctiveness of the migratory movement toward Portugal, East Africa, and the Gulf, but do not engage with settlement in France. Through an ethnographic study, we seek to understand how Goans have leveraged the social networks they connected with in Paris and Goa to their advantage in migration and settlement. Despite overwhelming evidence pointing to co-ethnic networks at play in job assistance and adaptation to host society requirements, the findings subtly underline the increasing relevance of diverse social networks in the Goa-Paris migration story. The French connections are nuanced via references to network subsets stemming from colonial legacy or bridging initiatives in Paris. Goan networks, even when robust, announce faint signs of erosion due to internal frictions.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• settlement
• French Goans
• ethnic networks
• social capital

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the study participants who willingly shared their life stories with me. I wish to thank Anuradha Wagle and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irene Silveira

Irene Silveira is a French Teacher and Researcher with special interest in Diaspora Studies, Sociolinguistics, French and Francophone Literature, and Teaching Methodology.