Abstract:General questions.How do people who have had to leave, or who have chosen to leave, their home environment look back on their life histories and migration paths?What were the dynamics and processes th...General questions.How do people who have had to leave, or who have chosen to leave, their home environment look back on their life histories and migration paths?What were the dynamics and processes that led to their decisions, and how do these people explain their motives when speaking from their present perspective?The empirical studies presented here show that migrants often have not just one but several reasons for leaving their homes, or that their decision to leave was the culmination of a chain of events.The major reason for their migration was not always a desire to improve their financial situation, or that of their family members who remained at home, although many of our interviewees first give this as their reason.Another question arises in connection with discourses in the diaspora 1 : to what extent does the present situation of migrants depend on the society or social context in which they are now living?Which social and historical constellations enable some migrants to successfully realize their goals, and what obstacles make it impossible for others to do so?This book examines these questions on the basis of the life stories of people who tend to be labeled as "irregular" or "illegal" immigrants in the hegemonic social discourses of their respective arrival societies,Read More