In this Book
- Leaving Spain: A Biographical Study of an Economic Crisis and New Beginnings
- Book
- 2022
- Published by: Leuven University Press
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Life histories and experiences of Spanish migrants
Since the beginning of the economic crisis of 2008, Spain, like other southern European countries, has witnessed a mass departure of mostly young people looking for opportunities abroad. Leaving Spain is based on 58 autobiographical narrative interviews with recent Spanish migrants who went to the UK and Germany, and sometimes returned. By presenting a combination of in-depth case studies and comparative analyses, the author demonstrates the potential of biographical research and narrative analysis in studying contemporary Europe, including its overlapping crises. The scope of the sociological study is not limited to examining how those who left Spain experienced single phases of their migration. Instead, it focuses on the significance of migration projects in the context of their life histories and how they make sense of these experiences in retrospect.
This book will not only be of great interest to social scientists and students in different disciplines and interdisciplinary studies such as sociology, anthropology, human geography, European studies, education, and social work, but also to professionals, European and national policy makers, and those interested in learning more about migrants’ experiences, perspectives, and (often invisible) contributions.
Ebook available in Open Access.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Table of Contents

- Title Page
- pp. 1-3
- Dedication
- p. 5
- Table of Contents
- pp. 6-8
- Acknowledgements
- pp. 9-12
- 1. Introduction
- pp. 13-25
- 2. Mapping the Field
- pp. 26-55
- 3. Biographical Case Studies
- pp. 56-109
- 4. Time to go?
- pp. 110-132
- 5. On Studying and Working Abroad
- pp. 133-163
- 6. A Web of Social Relationships
- pp. 164-187
- 8. An Uneasy Homecoming
- pp. 206-226
- 9. Conclusion
- pp. 227-244
- 10. Methodological Appendix
- pp. 245-278
- References
- pp. 290-316