The MO-TRAYL project produced 4 surveys of youth in high school in Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Ghana. Additionally, in Ghana, youth who were surveyed in a previous project were re-surveyed. Four ethnographic studies were conducted, each consisting of between 20-25 youth who were followed over the course of 1.5 years.
The mixed-data produced was analysed and published in 18 journal articles, 4 book chapters and 4 doctoral dissertations. The highlights include the following:
1) Transnational mobility
Young people’s mobility to a ‘home’ country is more complex than it has been made out to be in migration studies. Their mobility evolves over the life-course from accompanying parents on family visits when they are young, to travelling on their own and engaging in different types of activities in their young adult years. They create new friendships and romantic relationships. Young Ghanaians who stay in Ghana while their parents migrate (stayer youth) also exhibit complex mobility patterns, although usually internal to Ghana. This mobility has consequences for their lives (see points below).
2) Transnational resources
Mobility generates resources that young people can draw upon in various environments. These include self-confidence, adaptability and motivation. National school systems and migration regimes can help or hinder young people to apply their transnational resources in the different national contexts.
3) Rethinking categories of migrant youth
Using mobility trajectories as an analytical category helps to see other things than when analysing migrant youth only by first or second-generation, or by their ethnic categories, as is mainly done in migration studies. Whether youth are mobile across countries and cultures, can also differentiate them.
4) ICTs and transnational relationships with parents and peers
While it is known that ICTs help families maintain transnational relationships over great distances, knowledge of how they are used mainly comes from studies of adult parents. Our project looks at how transnational youth, both those living in Ghana and in Europe, use ICTs and especially social media, to navigate new spaces, forge new relationships, and acquire a new-found independence.
5) Young people’s diasporic engagement
For young people with a migration background, engagement with a ‘home’ country is not only about relationships be they family, friends, or romantic. It is also about engaging in cultural ceremonies and starting their own voluntary organizations to help with the development of their country. This is true for both first- and second-generation youth.
6) Methodology
Following young people’s mobility requires mobile methods. The MO-TRAYL project uses three main types of mobile methods: Following the young people: this includes traveling with them to observe what happens during their travels, or being with them as they communicate with their parents abroad; conducting before and after trip interviews and observation to track changes; and mapping their trajectories. This latter was developed by the project team by adapting life-course methods using grid tools. This helps to systematically collect mobility data over the life-course.
7) How to co-create research with participants
MO-TRAYL conducted a ‘Finding Your Voice’ workshop with youth research participants to have their voices heard rather than filter them through those of adults, be they their parents, teachers or researchers. A second objective of the workshop was to teach youth writing, interviewing and audio skills that can be handy in their future lives. The project researchers wrote down the methodology and tools that we used to guide other researchers interested in doing the same.
