Africa < > Europe: A Double Engagement

Prof Ralph Grillo*Ralph Grillo is Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex & Dr Valentina Mazzucato*Valentina Mazzucato is Senior Researcher in the Departmentt of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies at the University of Amsterdam * Dept of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, Falmer , Brighton , BN1 9SJ , UK E-mail: r.d.grillo@sussex.ac.uk * Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ , Amsterdam , The Netherlands E-mail: v.mazzucato@uva.nl This introduction to the special issue entitled ‘Africa<>Europe: Transnational Linkages, Multi-Sited Lives’ outlines the history of the African migrant presence in Europe, gives an account of the contexts which shape contemporary migration, and surveys the approaches to international migration from Africa which have influenced researchers since the 1960s. Linking the contributions to the special issue is the theme of migrants’ transnational ‘double engagement’ with both Africa and Europe. The paper examines this theme across three domains of the lived experience of African migrants and refugees in Europe: ‘Livelihoods’, ‘Families’, and ‘Identities’. We conclude with an assessment of what can be learned (theoretically and methodologically) from the study of African transmigration, and suggest future lines of research.