ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores processes that produce and reproduce multiple forms of marginalization and exclusion of female migrants in southern Europe. It presents importance of locating migration within transnational processes in terms of global economies and the formation of transnational migratory groups. The book examines narratives of women migrants, whilst referring to the enforced response to economic hardship, talk about migration as an escape route from patriarchal structures as well as being motivated by the search for economic improvement for their families. It shows how the migration experience has impacted differently on different groups of migrant women, in terms of the role of state and labour market practices and the way women have responded to the challenges they face. Most migration theorists have concentrated on migrants from less developed regions to more developed regions, searching for an improvement in their social and economic position.
