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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Dynamics of Migration and (Im)Mobility
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2024.1376968

Refugee Agency in Secondary Mobility Decision-Making: A Systematic Literature Review

Provisionally accepted
Sinem Kavak Sinem Kavak 1*Mo Hamza Mo Hamza 1Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen 2Russell A. Stone Russell A. Stone 3
  • 1 Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  • 2 University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
  • 3 University of Oslo, Oslo, Oslo, Norway

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Decisions made by millions of refugees about where to go, how to make a living and how to secure a future are fundamental drivers of secondary movements. While a substantial body of literature addresses factors contributing to migrants' decision-making, a comprehensive understanding of the central role of refugees in secondary mobility decision-making, including agency and strategies employed, remains underexplored. This is partly due to the belief that refugees are constrained by external and structural factors and cannot exercise agency, which we challenge. This article provides a systematic analysis of the literature on refugees' secondary mobility decision-making processes. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, it presents an indepth analysis of 40 peer-reviewed, English-language research articles selected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases published before September 2022. The article critically examines the drivers, prevailing dichotomies and conceptual frameworks surrounding refugee categorisation, agency, and mobility. By synthesising a wide range of literature, our paper presents emerging alternative concepts and frameworks that shed light on the complex dynamics of decision-making.

    Keywords: Refugee, agency, decision-making, mobility, Immobility

    Received: 30 Jan 2024; Accepted: 17 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kavak, Hamza, Gammeltoft-Hansen and Stone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sinem Kavak, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

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