Migration is a topic of heated debate across Europe. On one hand, there is a recognized need for attracting especially skilled migrants to fill labor shortages. On the other hand, the profiles of the migrants to be welcomed are increasingly controlled. Likewise, the position of women migrating from or linked through family networks with Muslim-majority societies is a heated topic. The image of women as passive and needy of different rescue operations persists. This research investigates the migratory context in France through especially highly educated women’s life stories.

Building on multi-sited ethnography, this research constructs a multivocal framework for understanding Maghrebi women’s life stories. The research is written around three main themes: understanding skill and success, transnational connections between the two shores of the Mediterranean, and readings of the (post)colonial in the present day. These themes are approached from the perspective of the women’s stories, attempting thus challenge more official ways of writing history and current politics. The position of the researcher as an outsider to 'the community' under study, yet as a participant in the discussions is reflexively analyzed. The positionalities opened within the life stories and research encounters are studied deploying the idea of intersectionality raised by feminist researchers.

It would be necessary for political studies to engage with ethnographic methodology. Alongside research, this would be necessary in policy-making so as to take better into account the perspectives of those the most concerned by the policies in place. Moreover, the horizons opened through the concept of intersectionality that serve to further disturb universalisms and contribute to yielding more reflexively critical insights should be recognized and explored more thoroughly.