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situation and the relationships he was making critically. Ultimately Jigo chose to become
part of the collective and to participate in the communicative practices that define it: he
inserted himself in the social life of the collective and its economic networks; he chose to
engage with Athens and the people living in it according to the demands and rational of
the group; and he guides others as they arrive to the country in the same way he was
guided. Moreover, like many others, Jigo may also choose to move beyond the collective
by assembling the necessary elements of social mobility. In doing so the bricoleur might
achieve a private revolution. While communicative reason will always attract him to the
collective and will enable him to remain a member; stability will lessen the push of
suffering thereby opening the possibility for a new chapter in the undocumented
migrant’s life.
Once Jigo gains a degree of stability, in the traditional sense of the word (Ossman
2007a: 1-2), he may opt to disengage from the collective to resume his Europe-bound
journey or to pursue new trajectories as others have done before him. Here we glimpse
the complex relationship between the undocumented migrant and mainstream Greek
society as buffered through the collective. Let us revisit the concept of ‘motion’: before
arriving to Greece, motion for undocumented migrants was tantamount to the fulfillment
of a desired trajectory from a homeland to a dream nation; however, upon arriving at this
hostile, Iiminal place (Greece), motion became redefined in the cradle of the collective in
such a way that place was erased and (group enabled) agency became a determining force.
However, motion may change once again, as I will argue, when the undocumented
migrant achieves a degree of security and stability and is able to contemplate a choice:
does the individual wish to remain engaged with the collective and pursue placeless