New Books Network: Interview with Hannah Pool

Episode: "The Game: The Economy of Undocumented Migration from Afghanistan to Europe"
Host: Arman Childes
Guest: Hannah Pool
Date: October 7, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Arman Childes interviews economic sociologist Hannah Pool about her new book, The Game: The Economy of Undocumented Migration from Afghanistan to Europe (Oxford UP, 2025). Pool shares the personal journey behind her research, the realities of fieldwork with Afghan migrants, and her incisive analysis of how money structures migration and social relationships along the “game” — the term used by Afghan migrants for the perilous journey to Europe. The conversation unpacks the human, social, and economic complexities of forced migration, exploring the infrastructures that enable these journeys, the role of money, networks of trust, risk, and resilience, and the broader implications for migration studies.

Guest Introduction & Research Background

[02:46–03:33]

• Hannah Pool is a Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (Cologne, Germany).
• Specializes in economic sociology, human mobility, and the role of money in migration.
• Personal relevance: Pool became interested in Afghan migration during a scholarship year in Iran (2014–15), where she befriended Afghan families and witnessed the impact of war, displacement, and the negotiations around the 2015 European refugee intake.

Origins of the Research & The Meaning of “The Game”

[03:33–10:19]

• Pool’s research began informally as she became involved in translation for newly arrived Afghan migrants in Germany in 2015.
• Personal ties to the Afghan community (notably “Panya” and her family) in Iran deeply influenced her focus.
• Explains that “the game” or game zadan (Farsi: “to do the game”) is used by migrants to describe the dangerous, clandestine journey to Europe—crossing borders on foot, in vehicles, or by boat. The term resonates because it encapsulates both the risk and strategy involved, and the psychological mechanism of making a lethal ordeal somewhat bearable (e.g., talking about “winning” or “losing” the game).

“The game actually is the term...Afrons themselves used for this route...game zadan means to do the game, to try the game, to beat the game, to be on the game. And it really defines doing this trajectory by foot, by passes, by hiding, moving across borders, all with the aim to first escape Iran and Afghanistan...”
— Hannah Pool [05:30]

• The danger of using "game": it can risk trivializing the suffering or idealizing a process that is often deadly—but it captures how migrants themselves speak.

Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methods & Experiences

[11:11–24:07]

• Pool conducted immersive fieldwork, moving through Iran, Turkey, and Greece to interview and observe Afghan migrants.
• The research was built on trust and deep personal connections, particularly with Zamira (pseudonym), an Afghan woman Pool befriended in Iran, whose disappearance and subsequent reappearance in Istanbul became a pivotal story in the research.
• Fieldwork was logistically and emotionally demanding: Pool traveled light, relied on hospitality from her interlocutors, and navigated intense ethical challenges.

“I was very worried. Why should anyone ever talk to...a Farsi speaking, but with a strong German accent, researcher arriving at their place, talking about one of the most dangerous decisions someone can take in their life?”
— Hannah Pool [12:28]

• The journey included intimate insights into community dynamics, the risks of border crossings, and everyday acts of resilience.

• Introduction of key terminology:

  • ham gami: those who do the game together, a bond formed through shared danger.
  • rajagbar and rahbalad: terms for guides/facilitators or “smugglers,” often stripped of negative connotations within migrant networks.

“When someone says ‘oh that’s my humgami,’ everyone knows, ‘oh that is someone that you did the game with together at one part of your route.’”
— Hannah Pool [20:35]

The Role of Money: Economic Sociology in Migration

[25:17–33:49]

• Pool’s core analytical lens is money: how do migrants, often extremely poor, amass large sums to pay for their journeys, and how does money shift social structures?
• Funding the journey involves an intricate system of loans within family networks, friends, and communities—a labor-intensive process of building trust and “creditworthiness” even amidst trauma.
• Gendered dimension: Women's migration, especially solo, involves additional barriers and negotiations around trust and repayment.

“Using money as a lens to understand this undocumented migration...meant asking how this money was first earned or received...taking and giving loans within family networks, within groups of friends...”
— Hannah Pool [26:31]

• Money’s role extends to interactions with humanitarian organizations (gifts, charity), border guards (bribes), and, crucially, smugglers, demonstrating how power and vulnerability are tied to financial flows.

Money as Social Glue (and Divider) in Encampment

[33:49–38:36]

• Contrary to assumptions that money undermines social ties, Pool notes it can deepen relationships, especially in the adversity of refugee camps.
• Observed woman-to-woman microlending, collective pooling of resources, and informal economies within camps (e.g., baking bread during Ramadan to maintain cultural identity).

“Money...can also allow you to remain human in a situation that is so structured, designed and channeled to dehumanize you.”
— Hannah Pool [37:26]

• Money enables temporary moments of normalcy, reciprocity, and dignity in the face of bureaucratic and material deprivation.

Infrastructures of Migration: Networks, Hawala, and Smuggling

[38:36–46:58]

• Afghan migration is sustained by long-honed infrastructures, notably the hawala system: a trust-based, transnational informal money transfer network, predating Western Union.
• Hawala and Western Union serve different purposes; the choice between them is determined by legal status, trust, community visibility, and pragmatic needs.

“Western Union actually derives from something that is called hawala, which is a very smart way of moving money for transnational, trans regional borders. And that has been used for centuries...the money actually does not move. The money stays in place.”
— Hannah Pool [39:41]

• The infrastructure includes “gold shops” that serve as transfer points, human “facilitators,” and complex transactional relationships among migrants, local intermediaries, and their families.

• The system is delicate—fees, vulnerabilities, and power imbalances abound (e.g., Iranians with legal documents charging Afghans a premium to access remitted funds).

Reflections on Policy, the Ongoing Crisis & Next Projects

[46:58–51:28]

• Pool connects her findings to broader patterns: European and German policy shifts, continued repression in Afghanistan and Iran, and the continued necessity of dangerous journeys as legal pathways shrink.
• The book’s lessons move beyond Afghanistan, touching migration from authoritarian states and lessons on resilience.
• Pool’s new research investigates how climate change is shaping patterns of migration, drawing parallels between forced mobility due to violence and environmental disaster.

“This is also a book on how people navigate very uncertain times and how people try to escape authoritarian systems...how those who are brave and those who read the signs manage to leave countries early.”
— Hannah Pool [47:27]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "Game zadan means to do the game, to try the game, to beat the game, to be on the game...it really defines doing this trajectory by foot, by passes, by hiding, moving across borders, all with the aim to first escape Iran and Afghanistan..."
  — Hannah Pool [05:30]

• “Many of my interviewees are actually people who were not given the right to have education...but still, or maybe nevertheless, they absolutely were able to use money as a form to move on.”
  — Hannah Pool [29:32]

• "Money...can also allow you to remain human in a situation that is so structured, designed and channeled to dehumanize you."
  — Hannah Pool [37:26]

• "Western Union actually derives from something that is called hawala...the money actually does not move. The money stays in place. But because you get a receipt or some kind of confirmation, someone can receive money in another location..."
  — Hannah Pool [39:41]

• "...each of the book talks, lectures, discussions, kind of become not just a moment of reflection, but also one where a lot of people think about what next. I think there's a lot to learn from this book that goes beyond Afghanistan."
  — Hannah Pool [47:27]

Key Takeaways

• “The Game” is a nuanced, fieldwork-driven exploration of how Afghan migrants navigate the dangerous journey to Europe, and how money—earned, borrowed, remitted, hidden—structures every step.
• Migration is sustained by resilient, adaptive infrastructures—both social (friendship, trust, collective action) and financial (hawala, Western Union, microlending).
• Gender, power, and risk are central themes: women face unique challenges and innovate within constraints.
• The study offers rare insight into the dignity, agency, and solidarity among “the game’s” participants, unearthing economic and social logics often missed by policy and media narratives.
• Pool's continuing work on climate migration will further expand this perspective to emerging forms of displacement.

For those interested in migration, economic sociology, or the lived realities of forced displacement, this episode provides a deeply human, empirically rich account of the Afghan experience—and important frameworks for understanding much broader global challenges.