5

The migratory field formed by the Senegalese in Casablanca is organized around hybrid systems of reasoning which hinge predominantly on clandestine trade-oriented migrations. The problems considered involve the fluctuating frontiers which, in view of the new situation that developed in the late 1990s, activate these migratory paths. This it does while refusing to set a priori two representations of migrants in opposition: one positive, ideally incarnated in the supposed profile of transnational traders, the other negative, commonly represented under the image of the miserable “adventurer”. The heuristic issue of an examination of the “new” kinds of logic behind migrations combines with a dual socio-historical interest: by shedding light on migration ventures, hitherto still poorly known, this sociological investigation brings into relief the consequences of European policy on migrations.