Theorising migrant lives: homing, everyday bordering and the migrant struggle for ontological security

This paper examines two relatively novel concepts in migration – Boccagni’s ‘homing’ and Yuval-Davis, Wemyss and Cassidy’s ‘everyday bordering’ – highlighting their relevance amid rising anti-immigration policies and global mobility. It critiques their conceptual ambiguities and overlapping theoretical ground, arguing for their joint application within a broader framework of the migrant struggle for ontological security. This integrated approach enables a more holistic analysis of the social and political disruptions shaping migrant lives. By bridging micro- and macro-level perspectives, the paper advocates for theoretical synthesis that transcends disciplinary divides, offering a migrant-centred lens for understanding the complexities of twenty-first-century global migration.