Temporary spaces. Social networks of Moroccan students in international mobility

This thesis analyzes the social networks and spatial mobility of Moroccan students in France. Themain focus is on the socio-spatial practices and patterns generated by the students’ networks, andon the various spatialities and connected places they produce. The thesis provides insights into aparticular type of short-term migration, and outlines how this form of migration leads to theappropriation of places and a relational, multi-nodal presence that situates students in a continuumbetween here (France) and there (Morocco). The research approach combines quantitativemethods (statistical analysis) and qualitative methods (interviews, participant-observation) andintroduces innovative techniques for analyzing online social networks (including the use of graphsto visualize Facebook networks). Analysis of mobility trajectories, relational networks andsociability, along with the daily practices of migrant actors, reveals a flexible spatial usage whichallows for the delineation of relational spaces, and leads to an understanding of theinterconnections formed through online social networks. Moroccan students’ spatial patterns thushave relational, temporary and dynamic properties. The social web is an integral element ofstudents’ mobility and multi-nodal spatial usage, and by linking a diversity of places and practicesleads to a form of ‘plural presence’. At the same time, the online social networking practices ofMoroccan students in France allows for a re-examination of the possible spatial imaginations (or,imaginaries) of migration.