doi:10.1177/13684310241270435engCasas-Cortés, MaribelCobarrubias, SebastiánRethinking mobility in social theory: Yann Moulier-Boutang and the motor of historyART-2025-139920This paper argues for reengaging the work on the primordial role of mobility advanced by Yann Moulier-Boutang, especially in his seminal book De l’esclavage au salariat: Economie historique du salariat bride (1998). His re-centering of historicity highlights the transformative potential of human mobility in broader social processes, resonating with the unique readings advanced by W.E.B. Du Bois. We identify how Moulier-Boutang’s emphasis on the long-term effects of human mobility is key to rethink concepts such as agency, social struggles, and controls. This paper introduces this referential theorist to an English-language audience where his work on migration is less known, despite being praised as one of the early founders of a burgeoning tradition known as autonomy of migration. Ultimately, this paper discerns ways in which the autonomous gaze toward migration and border policies substantially contributes to social theory.2025http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/14511510.1177/13684310241270435http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/145115oai:zaguan.unizar.es:145115info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/RYC-2018-024990-IEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL THEORY 28, 3 (2025), 431–452by-nchttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.esinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess