Although emigration of Portuguese gains importance in the public opinion and political discourses, as shown by press releases and political declarations the past years, within the Portuguese academic context, emigration and return have been marginal objects of study. This project addresses one of the mobility patterns affecting Portugal: the return of Portuguese immigrants who reside or resided in France to rural regions of the country. Within this context, it aims at critically examining the economic, social and political impacts of return mobilities in rural decayed areas, and comparing the current situation to works produced in Portugal in the 1980s and early 1990s. It also interrogates the role of this immigration within a wider range of mobilities that affect rural localities. More generally, MigRural participates in the better understanding of return mobilities on the one hand; and rural localities on the other hand; as well as the intersection between immigration and production of places. It can therefore offer rich insights on the inclusion of returnees and their participation in the revitalisation of rural former ‘exodus’ areas. In fact, return migration can be seen as a “force for change in rural society” (Black, 1993).

The recent migration research agenda emphasises the need to advance the conceptual framework to understand the unique circumstances of the “generation on the move”. In particular, researchers in the field stress the need to connect research on youth and migration studies. Research on immobility is also required to overcome the “mobility bias” that persists in migration studies. The central proposition of the MigYouBra project is to explore how young people in the Global South decide and manage to "stay put" in a context of high transnational mobility and how they perceive the desirability of staying put compared with that of migrating. The research will examine the different ways of staying put, investigating the motivations, degree of (in)voluntariness, and narratives of young people who remain. The project will be centered on Governador Valadares, the “national capital” of transnational migration in Brazil. The context of Governador Valadares allows focuses on the protagonism of youth migration, and its relation not only to transnational migration but also to mobility. The key research approach of the project is mixed-method ethnography based on field research and quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. The multidisciplinary nature of the project is strong, combining approaches from geography, youth studies, migration studies, and ethnography. The project will create extra-European opportunities for long-term research partnership. This proposal includes both the transfer of knowledge to the host institution and the training of the candidates in new advanced research techniques. Project results will increase understanding the drivers of young people's migration while also developing and strengthening the research skills of the Experienced Researcher.