Nicola Mai

Despite continued public and legislative concern about sex trafficking across international borders, the actual lives of the individuals involved—and, more importantly, the decisions that led them to sex work—are too often overlooked. With Mobile Orientations, Nicola Mai shows that, far from being victims of a system beyond their control, many contemporary sex workers choose their profession as a means to forge a path toward fulfillment. Using a bold blend of personal narrative and autoethnography, Mai provides intimate portrayals of sex workers from sites including the Balkans, the Maghreb, and West Africa who decided to sell sex as the means to achieve a better life. Mai explores the contrast between how migrants understand themselves and their work and how humanitarian and governmental agencies conceal their stories, often unwittingly, by addressing them all as helpless victims. The culmination of two decades of research, Mobile Orientations sheds new light on the desires and ambitions of migrant sex workers across the world.

Despite continued public and legislative concern about sex trafficking across international borders, the actual lives of the individuals involved—and, more importantly, the decisions that led them to sex work—are too often overlooked. With Mobile Orientations, Nicola Mai shows that, far from being victims of a system beyond their control, many contemporary sex workers choose their profession as a means to forge a path toward fulfillment. Using a bold blend of personal narrative and autoethnography, Mai provides intimate portrayals of sex workers from sites including the Balkans, the Maghreb, and West Africa who decided to sell sex as the means to achieve a better life. Mai explores the contrast between how migrants understand themselves and their work and how humanitarian and governmental agencies conceal their stories, often unwittingly, by addressing them all as helpless victims. The culmination of two decades of research, Mobile Orientations sheds new light on the desires and ambitions of migrant sex workers across the world.

Analysing the dynamics of the post-1990 Albanian migration to Italy, this book is the first major study of one of Europe’s newest, most dramatic yet least understood migrations. It takes a close look at migrants’ employment, housing and social exclusion in Italy, as well as the process of return migration to Albania. The research described in the book challenges the pervasive stereotype of the “bad Albanian” and, through in-depth fieldwork on Albanian communities in Italy and back in Albania, provides rich insights into the Albanian experience of migration, settlement and return in both their positive and their negative aspects.

Analysing the dynamics of the post-1990 Albanian migration to Italy, this book is the first major study of one of Europe’s newest, most dramatic yet least understood migrations. It takes a close look at migrants’ employment, housing and social exclusion in Italy, as well as the process of return migration to Albania. The research described in the book challenges the pervasive stereotype of the “bad Albanian” and, through in-depth fieldwork on Albanian communities in Italy and back in Albania, provides rich insights into the Albanian experience of migration, settlement and return in both their positive and their negative aspects.

Migration has become a central issue in a heated political and media debate in Britain and throughout Europe. But the issues have often become confused and mythologised. This report seeks to contribute to a more mature public debate - and to more effective and just policy responses - through an in-depth study of the forces driving migration, and the strategies which seek to govern it. Exploding the Migration Myths draws upon a year-long Fabian Society and Oxfam joint research project into the causes and consequences of migration. It looks in details at the case of migrants from Albania, the poorest country in Europe, their experience in the UK, and the impact on their home country, from remittances to the loss of human capital. By speaking to migrants themselves, whose voices are usually missing from this debate, the report identifies the real reasons behind migration and what drives those who undertake it. The report seeks a more holistic approach, linking development policy with domestic policies on entry and integration. The report makes a number of policy recommendations, arguing that the choice between allowing or stopping migration is a false one. Migration is a fact, which is affecting all countries in the developed and developing worlds. The real choices are in how we govern migration, Exploding the Migration Myths argues that either we create paths to legal migration, for unskilled as well as skilled workers, or migration will remain illegal, often controlled by transnational criminal gangs. As the report shows, migration can potentially benefit both the host societies and countries of origin. But an approach that seeks to maximise the benefits and to control the costs of migration depends centrally on how we choose to govern it.