door.donau-uni.ac.at o:5682 DOI 10.48341/g31s-vq79-02 What is irregular migration? Key points • This chapter explores how ‘irregular migration’ is defined and why the concept is contested, showing the tension between using existing categories for measurement and critically interrogating them. • It highlights that terms such as ‘irregular’, ‘illegal’, or ‘undocumented’ are not neutral but historically and politically charged. • The chapter explains that ‘irregular migration’ may denote different phenomena, legal status, border crossings, or policy violations, and stresses the need for precise definitions. • It shows that irregularity is not fixed but shaped by laws, administrative practices, and political contexts, varying between states and over time. • Understanding irregular migration requires both snapshots of populations and trajectories of status change. The MIrreM taxonomy maps pathways into and out of irregularity, while making visible the limits of classification. eng Irregular migration Concepts legal status terminology reflexitivity mixed migration pathways in and out of irregularity missing migrants 2025-09-30T07:19:46.978Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Kraler;Albert; FN:Albert Kraler X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3172-9542 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Bircan;Tuba; FN:Tuba Bircan X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1956-0545 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Singleton;Ann; FN:Ann Singleton END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 application/pdf 585432 https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/o:5682 https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/api/object/o:5682/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline