Cycles of (Im)mobility: Waithood and Severely Exploited Labour among Young African Male Migrants in Italy

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Chukwudi Matthew Anuforo
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/2
Language English Pages 18 P. 76-93 File size 205 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2026-002005
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This article investigates how young African male migrants in Italy navigate recurring cycles of (im)mobility shaped by waithood, severe labour exploitation, and gendered expectations. Drawing on life-course biographical interviews, it develops the ‘Cycles of (Im)mobility’ (CoI) framework to conceptualise trajectories as recursive alternations of waiting, precarious employment, attempted exit and return. Findings show that tourism work, initially imagined as a pathway out of waithood, often reproduces immobility through unstable contracts, employer dependence, and permit-related vulnerability, while masculinity norms shape how hardships are interpreted and endured. CoI offers a tool for analysing how structural constraints and identity negotiations co-produce circular migrant temporalities.

Keywords: waithood; (im)mobility; labour exploitation; masculinities; tourism work.

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Chukwudi Matthew Anuforo, Cycles of (Im)mobility: Waithood and Severely Exploited Labour among Young African Male Migrants in Italy in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2026, pp 76-93, DOI: 10.3280/MM2026-002005