'I went as far as my money would take me': conflict, forced migration and class

The paper looks at the part class plays in shaping forms, patterns and impacts of forced migration in societies that have undergone or are emerging from conflict. Drawing on Bourdieu's elaboration of the relations between various forms of capital and the formation of social classes, the term 'class' is used here as a shorthand for endowments of different forms of capital – economic, social, cultural, symbolic and human.

[The author argues] that as the costs of migration to escape conflict have increased, migrants' socio-economic background determined by control over or access to various forms of capital has become ever more important in shaping the forms, patterns and impacts of their movement. Drawing on case material from Sri Lanka and Somalia, the paper first explores how class affects routes taken, means of migration and destinations reached.