2026/03/01 by Usman Mahar
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Humor Studies and Applications #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Diaspora, migration, transnational identity
paper · doi:10.3167/sa.2026.700106
Abstract Social, cultural, and affective forces influence and shape migratory experiences and decisions in consequential ways. In this article, I explore the role of humor and affect in navigating restrictive mobility and its associated suffering to gain a more nuanced understanding of everyday migrant life. Increasing focus on these aspects aids in two ways. First, at a theoretical level, it helps bridge the gap between analyses that emphasize the suffering victim and those that focus heavily on the resilient agent. Second, at the ethnographic level, it helps capture the dynamic and inventive ways in which migrants overcome obstacles, make decisions, and pursue well-being despite structurally imposed immobility, suffering, and vulnerability. The article will show that migrants facing restrictive policies cannot be reduced to a single subjectivity. The complex entanglements they encounter require us to study migration more holistically.