24
It is common for members of these groups to come and go according to work
opportunities, police pressures, and other factors such as internal violence or dispute.
Membership is most capricious within newcomer groups. However, as individuals find
work and make contacts within the larger Athens undocumented migrant community,
they typically leave the newcomers for good (often friends will break away together) to
join more established groups. By ‘established’ I mean immigrants who have been living
in Athens for several months, are able to support themselves financially and have
developed a broader social support network. Rarely do undocumented migrants live
alone, and in few cases newcomers are recruited directly into illegal occupations. Of
course, this is all informal and variable, but, according to my experience can be taken as
standard practice.
As mentioned above, communication is central to membership and the
maintenance of the internal social dynamic of this community. Besides frequent, more
traditional face-to-face communication, the ready availability and relative affordability of
mobile phones, and their text messaging functionality, has brought this community closer
together by enabling rapid and broadcast communication and serving as an open forum
for large numbers of individuals, while on a functional level serving as a safety and
productivity tool24. Individuals are able to disseminate information about available work,
dangerous areas, community happenings, and request help or information at any given
moment. Thus, the collective stays well (interconnected and easily adapts to changing
24 Although it should be noted that prior to the availability of mobile phones migrants communicated by
word of mouth in more independent units. I would argue, however, that a larger unified community still
existed.