Women migrants and their personal experiences have been in the focus of research scrutiny only for these past two decades. The attention has been paid to them since a general belief prevailed in the academic world that migration has always been a process characterized by distinct gender-related specifics. The life stories of migrant women present “lives in a context”, in regard to various social, economic and historical circumstances. They also indicate how these lives depended on cultural landscapes, personal attitudes, intimate calculations and independent decisions. The collected life stories show how the decisions in the life-long migration processes are not influenced only by economic and political factors, but mainly by family and friendship networks and bonds, and by intimate reasons and aspirations. It is impossible to understand migration phenomena without personal accounts of migrants along with subjective experiences of those who leave and those who stay. The use of auto/biographical sources has enriched the migration studies with new insights into the different roles, experiences, statuses and dealings of men and women in migration contexts. The book by seven authors – Mirjam Milharčič Hladnik, Jernej Mlekuž, Marjan Drnovšek, Katja Škrlj, Sanja Cukut, Urška Strle, Špela Kalčič – is a contribution to a better understanding of migration dynamics in Slovenia today and in the past.

This book is included in DOAB.