The raptures and ruptures of mobility

This article examines the ways in which the trope of rupture has progressively figured in my studies of diverse forms of mobility. Ironically, this has occurred at the same time as an increasing orientation within migration studies towards transnational links has given a strong emphasis on continuity. I argue that this kind of methodological transnationalism does not give enough attention either to the disjunctures that are routinely involved in mobility or to the possibility that rupture might be an actively desired goal for moving either temporarily or for the longer term.