Everyday urban violence and transnational displacement of Colombian urban migrants to London, UK

TY - JOUR

T1 - Everyday urban violence and transnational displacement of Colombian urban migrants to London, UK

AU - McIlwaine, Cathy

PY - 2014/8/8

Y1 - 2014/8/8

N2 - Most research on the mobility outcomes of violence focuses on Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) or refugees displaced in response to armed conflict. The influence of everyday urban violence on population movements has been largely invisible, especially transnationally. This paper addresses these issues in relation to transnational migration and displacement among Colombians in the United Kingdom. Cities in the global South have porous violence boundaries in terms of rural–urban linkages but also with regard to the more neglected dimension of transnational migration, a crucial response to everyday urban violence and less directly influenced by armed conflict. The paper also highlights transnational linkages between countries, forged and maintained especially through remittances that fund security infrastructure back home as well as further migration. The notion of displacement also encapsulates how fear and security in cities in the South are often transformed into anxiety and the experience of discrimination among those with no legal papers in cities such as London.

AB - Most research on the mobility outcomes of violence focuses on Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) or refugees displaced in response to armed conflict. The influence of everyday urban violence on population movements has been largely invisible, especially transnationally. This paper addresses these issues in relation to transnational migration and displacement among Colombians in the United Kingdom. Cities in the global South have porous violence boundaries in terms of rural–urban linkages but also with regard to the more neglected dimension of transnational migration, a crucial response to everyday urban violence and less directly influenced by armed conflict. The paper also highlights transnational linkages between countries, forged and maintained especially through remittances that fund security infrastructure back home as well as further migration. The notion of displacement also encapsulates how fear and security in cities in the South are often transformed into anxiety and the experience of discrimination among those with no legal papers in cities such as London.

KW - Colombians

KW - displacement

KW - London

KW - transnational migration

KW - urban violence

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84910674709&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0956247814544416

DO - 10.1177/0956247814544416

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84910674709

SN - 0956-2478

VL - 26

SP - 417

EP - 426

JO - Environment and Urbanization

JF - Environment and Urbanization

IS - 2

ER -