Imagining greener pastures? Shifting perceptions of Europe and mobility in Senegalese society

Over the past few years, the European crisis and the EU enforcement and externalization of border control have shaped how Europe and migration are perceived in Africa. Areas of out-migration, such as Senegal, are not only experiencing changes in mobility patterns but also a social diversification in the way in which «Europe» is viewed and talked about. While several studies have underlined transformations occurring over time amongst Senegalese migrants in Europe, less attention has been paid to analysing their migration decision-making practices through a diachronic perspective. Drawing on ethnographic research carried out in Senegal and Italy between the mid-1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, this paper aims to explore how imaginaries and narratives of migration and destination countries are formed. Taking into account the interconnections of global and local dynamics, the paper discusses shifting perceptions of Europe and mobility in Senegal, highlighting how imaginaries of «elsewhere» are ambivalent and historically grounded.