What happens to ‘social capital’ within the actor-network(s) of students when they dislocate from Brazil to Ireland in pursuit of enhanced cultural capital? The research presented engages with the growing phenomenon of international student mobility (Deardoff, 2014; Knight 2004; 2014) and the forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988) which underpin, are changed by and, in some form, evolve from these experiences.  International student mobility can be seen as a ‘war and battle’ (Foucault, 1980) abroad, in which students are engaged in establishing networks in order to acquire their explicit and implicit benefits; or forms of capital, whether social, cultural or economic.

From a policy perspective, Ireland and Brazil have demonstrated their intention in participating in the global knowledge society. For example, these nations established an educational and commercial cooperation agreement on October 2012  (Portal Brasil, 2012), aiming to increase the already considerable influx of Brazilians students coming to Ireland, mainly as a consequence of the Brazilian scholarship program ‘Science Without Borders’. It was expected that Irish universities would welcome 4,000 undergraduate and up to 1,500 postgraduate Brazilian students between 2012 and 2016 (Press Office, 2012). Between 2006 and 2010 there was a 60% increase in the number of Brazilian students arriving to study the English language in Ireland (Learning, 2010).  The paper presents preliminary findings drawn from a case study of Brazilian students – of English and in Higher Education – who came to the city of Dublin in Ireland in order to expand educational and employment actor-network(s). It offers a sociological reading of the network-work of these students, and how diverse actors strength some possibilities while weakening others, which enhances understanding of, and offers insights to improve, the lived experience and outcomes of global student mobility. The research questions that will guide the analysis are as follows:

1. What implication does migration from Brazil to Ireland have on forms and stores of social capital of Brazilian students?

2. How do actor-networks impact on education and employment  outcomes of these students?

3. What are the implications for organisational and government policy?

This study is built upon the idea that sociological investigation  must acknowledge complexity; the world  cannot be ‘simply’ understood and described. Through the lenses of Actor-Network Theory (Callon, 1986; Latour, 1993; 1999; Law, 2006) this study embraces the contradictions that emerge from social research, delineating a sociological approach ‘on the ground’ of international students  beyond their classroom contexts. The focus of the analysis considers social capital as an effect of what Callon (1986) refers to as ‘translations’ between heterogeneous actor-networks. In this study, we are concerned with translations performed by Brazilian student actor-networks in Dublin. Callon’s (1986) model, ‘the four moments of translation’ (problematisation, interessment, enrolment, mobilisation) focuses on the entrepreneurial action of the actors, which helps us to understand issues of agency in the international students’ context.

Actor-Network Theory is used as a sensibility to analyse students’ negotiations and practices that aim to strengthen their heterogeneous networks abroad. The micro-level is where the analysis begins. This not only favours the identification of shifts in social capital in the light of student migratory experiences, but also illuminates different tensions and risks, as well as the strategic ways that students build forms of identity abroad (Vásquez, 2009; Wulfhorst, 2014). Students in search of social capital in a foreign land are immersed in struggles, contradictions and paradoxes. Through the analytical lenses of social capital using Actor-Network Theory, this study incorporates materiality in social relations, enhancing our understanding of the contexts and experiences of international students.

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