In this article, we draw on the volatile complexity of African migrant trajectories in Central America to broaden the scope of transnational scholarship. These trajectories are characterised by mobilities as well as immobilities, taking shape in particular local contexts. By focusing on the interplays between displacement and emplacement that are part of these trajectories, we aim to increase our understanding of the extent to which migrants still ‘on the move’ experience both temporal embeddedness and cross-border connectedness, thereby acknowledging and unravelling transnational lives as they ‘touch the ground’ en route. To do so, we build on long-standing scholarly commitments in Central and South America and recent field research in Costa Rica. We go into selected empirical cases to discuss the dynamics of travelling, dwelling and travelling again as part of African migrant trajectories across Central America. We then explore the value of a ‘shifting’ transnational social field perspective and indicate some challenges for future trajectory research.

中文翻译：

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一个不断变化但有根基的跨国社会领域：中美洲非洲移民轨迹中流离失所和安置的相互作用

在本文中，我们利用中美洲非洲移民轨迹的多变复杂性来扩大跨国学术的范围。这些轨迹的特点是流动性和固定性，在特定的当地环境中形成。通过关注作为这些轨迹一部分的迁移和就位之间的相互作用，我们旨在提高我们对仍在“流动中”的移民体验时间嵌入和跨境联系的程度的理解，从而承认和解开跨国生活因为他们在途中“接触地面”。为此，我们建立在中美洲和南美洲的长期学术承诺以及哥斯达黎加最近的实地研究基础上。我们进入选定的经验案例来讨论旅行的动态，再次居住和旅行，作为穿越中美洲的非洲移民轨迹的一部分。然后，我们探索“转变”跨国社会领域视角的价值，并指出未来轨迹研究的一些挑战。