Traces of the Past, Visions of the Future: How Asylum Seekers Navigate Legal Im/mobilization

Many asylum seekers in Europe—especially those with rejected claims or facing transfer under the Dublin Regulation—face legal forms of im/mobilization, including detention and deportation. In response, they may engage in strategies to resist or circumvent these constraints. While previ-ous research has shown that asylum seekers adopt such strategies, less is known about how they do so and who is positioned to adopt particular strategies. This study adopts a biographically grounded and class-sensitive perspective to examine the strategies asylum seekers employ to nav-igate legal im/mobilization. Drawing on longitudinal biographical interviews conducted in Ger-many and Italy, it explores how past experiences and future aspirations shape these strategies. The analysis foregrounds the temporally layered and classed ways in which individuals navigate legal im/mobilization—through strategies that draw upon resources accumulated in the past and carry traces of classed imaginaries of futures worth striving for.