2026/03/01 by Jérémie Voirol, Valerio Simoni
paper · doi:10.3167/sa.2026.700103
Abstract This article examines the moral deliberations and value-creation strategies of Cuban and Ecuadorian return migrants who question the common-sense view that upward social mobility drives migration and strive to reimagine life in their homeland accordingly. By reassessing notions of virtuous economic practice and activating moral repertoires outside the field of migration, returnees attempt to carve out a ‘simple life’ oriented toward frugality, modest consumption, and meaningful sociality. We show that sustaining such projects requires ongoing moral work and justification amid persistent expectations of visible socio-economic success. The precariousness of such endeavors stresses the high stakes of returnees’ responses to migration-related expectations and pressures, namely, the possibility of maintaining significant relationships while cultivating a valuable social life.