La Caminata del Migrante: a social movement

The literature on the October 2018 caravan from Central America tothe US has offered different interpretations of the phenomenon.Some studies look at it as a strategy for mobility, others as anexodus, and others as a collective action. I synthesise theseperspectives to advance the conceptualisation of the caravan toaccount for its main features. To do so, I perform a case study ofthe caravan based on a literature review and a secondaryqualitative analysis. Drawing on the concept of SocialMovements, this articlefirst proposes the conceptualisation of thecaravan as a social movement—understanding the differentfeatures of the caravan as axes of a social movement. Then, thearticle introduces the concept of‘transnational social movementson the move’to account for the innovations in the space andrepertoires of contention and diffusion. The case study showsthat the 2018 Caravan is a transnational social movement on themove composed of purposive migrants from differentnationalities moving collectively across countries to challenge asystem of authority at the local and international level usinginnovative repertoires of contention.