ABSTRACT
This chapter offers the book’s analytical framework and discusses the specific features of the migration system that bring together Albania, Italy, and Greece. The chapter introduces the notion of migration systems and defines the macro-, meso-, and micro-level drivers that shape migrants’ decision to return, stay, or move on. We discuss the role of tipping points or critical junctures when a migrant’s decision-making is triggered in response to a change in their circumstances. We conceptualize return as part of the migration journey and distinguish return from reintegration.
