Cycles of (Im)mobility: Waithood and Severely Exploited Labour among Young African Male Migrants in Italy

Titolo Rivista MONDI MIGRANTI
Autori/Curatori Chukwudi Matthew Anuforo
Anno di pubblicazione 2026 Fascicolo 2026/2
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 18 P. 76-93 Dimensione file 205 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2026-002005
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This article investigates how young African male migrants in Italy navigate recurring cycles of (im)mobility shaped by waithood, severe labour exploitation, and gendered expectations. Drawing on life-course biographical interviews, it develops the ‘Cycles of (Im)mobility’ (CoI) framework to conceptualise trajectories as recursive alternations of waiting, precarious employment, attempted exit and return. Findings show that tourism work, initially imagined as a pathway out of waithood, often reproduces immobility through unstable contracts, employer dependence, and permit-related vulnerability, while masculinity norms shape how hardships are interpreted and endured. CoI offers a tool for analysing how structural constraints and identity negotiations co-produce circular migrant temporalities.

Questo articolo analizza come giovani migranti maschi africani in Italia attraversino cicli ricorrenti di (im)mobilità plasmati dalla waithood, da forme gravi di sfruttamento lavorativo e da aspettative di genere. Basandosi su interviste biografiche condotte secondo un approccio life-course, lo studio sviluppa il framework Cycles of (Im)mobility (CoI) per concettualizzare le traiettorie migratorie come alternanze ricorsive di attesa, lavoro precario, tentativi di uscita e ritorno. I risultati mostrano che il lavoro nel settore turistico, inizialmente immaginato come una possibile via d’uscita dalla waithood, finisce spesso per riprodurre l’immobilità attraverso contratti instabili, dipendenza dal datore di lavoro e vulnerabilità legata allo status di soggiorno. Allo stesso tempo, le norme di maschilità influenzano il modo in cui le difficoltà vengono interpretate e sopportate. Il framework Cycles of (Im)mobility (CoI) offre quindi uno strumento analitico per comprendere come vincoli strutturali e processi di negoziazione identitaria co-producono temporalità migratorie circolari.

Parole chiave:waithood; (im)mobilità; sfruttamento lavorativo; maschilità; lavoro turistico.

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Chukwudi Matthew Anuforo, Cycles of (Im)mobility: Waithood and Severely Exploited Labour among Young African Male Migrants in Italy in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2026, pp 76-93, DOI: 10.3280/MM2026-002005