Migration Theory

During the last decade the issue of migration has increased in global prominence and has caused controversy among host countries around the world. To remedy the tendency of scholars to speak only to and from their own disciplinary perspective, this book brings together in a single volume essays dealing with central concepts and key theoretical issues in the study of international migration across the social sciences. Editors Caroline B. Brettell and James F. Hollifield have guided a thorough revision of this seminal text, with valuable insights from such fields as anthropology, demography, economics, geography, history, law, political science, and sociology. Each essay focuses on key concepts, questions, and theoretical frameworks on the topic of international migration in a particular discipline, but the volume as a whole teaches readers about similarities and differences across the boundaries between one academic field and the next. How, for example, do political scientists wrestle with the question of citizenship as compared with sociologists, and how different is this from the questions that anthropologists explore when they deal with ethnicity and identity? Are economic theories about ethnic enclaves similar to those of sociologists? What theories do historians (the "essentializers") and demographers (the "modelers") draw upon in their attempts to explain empirical phenomena in the study of immigration? What are the units of analysis in each of the disciplines and do these shape different questions and diverse models and theories? Scholars and students in migration studies will find this book a powerful theoretical guide and a text that brings them up to speed quickly on the important issues and the debates. All of the social science disciplines will find that this book offers a one-stop synthesis of contemporary thought on migration.

This book brings together philosophical, social-theoretical and empirically oriented contributions on the philosophical and socio-theoretical debate on migration and integration, using the instruments of recognition as a normative and social-scientific category. Furthermore, the theoretical and practical implications of recognition theory are reflected through the case of migration. Migration movements, refugees and the associated tensions are phenomena that have become the focus of scientific, political and public debate in recent years. Migrants, in particular refugees, face many injustices and are especially vulnerable, but the right-wing political discourse presents them as threats to social order and stability. This book shows what a critical theory of recognition can contribute to the debate. The book is suitable for researchers in philosophy, social theory and migration research. "A profound examination of how states and societies struggle to recognize migrants as fellow human beings in all their fullness. The contributions are exceptional for combining astute philosophy and social theory with a discussion of actual politics and real lives." Dr. Hugo Slim (Senior Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and formerly Head of Policy at the International Committee of the Red Cross) “This impressive and timely volume offers an innovative way of understanding the issues of migration and integration by using a critical theory of recognition. Recognition theory has rich potential for effectively responding to the issues of autonomy, identity, integration, and empowerment that are at the core of the current public debates on mass migration, displacement, and the refugee crisis. By examining the normative and policy implications of recognition as they apply to migration, the book offers a pathbreaking look at the human dimension of the debate.” Dr. Helle Porsdam (Professor of Law and Humanities and UNESCO Chair in Cultural Rights University of Copenhagen)

This open access book provides an alternative theoretical framework of irregular migration that allows to overcome many of the contradictions and theoretical impasses displayed by the majority of approaches in current literature. The analytical framework allows moving from an interpretation biased by methodological nationalism, to a more general systemic interpretation. It explains irregular migration as a structural phenomenon or contemporary society, and why state policies are greatly ineffective in their attempt to control irregular migration. It also explains irregular migration as a diversified phenomenon that relates to the social characteristics of the context, and why states accept irregular migrants. By providing new comparative, empirical, qualitative material which allows to start filling an evident gap in the current research on irregular migration, this book is of interest to graduate students, scholars and policy makers.

At the turn of the new millenium, war, political oppression, desperate poverty, environmental degradation and disasters, and economic underdevelopment are sharply increasing the ranks of the world's twenty million forced migrants. In this volume, eighteen scholars provide a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look beyond the statistics at the experiences of the women, men, girls, and boys who comprise this global flow, and at the highly gendered forces that frame and affect them. In theorizing gender and forced migration, these authors present a set of descriptively rich, gendered case studies drawn from around the world on topics ranging from international human rights, to the culture of aid, to the complex ways in which women and men envision displacement and resettlement.

Includes statistical tables.

This highly topical book demonstrates the theoretical and practical importance of the study of migration law. It outlines approaches that may be taken in the design, delivery and monitoring of this study in law schools and universities to ensure an optimum level of learning. Drawing on examples of best practice from around the world, this book uses a theoretical framework and examples from real clients to simulations to help promote the learning and teaching of the law affecting migrants. It showcases contributions from over 30 academics and practitioners experienced in asylum and immigration law and helps to unpick how to teach the complex international laws and procedures relating to migration between different countries and regions. The various sections of the book explore educational best practice, what content can be covered, models for teaching and learning, strategies to deal with challenges and ways forward. The book will appeal to scholars, researchers and practitioners of migration and asylum law, those teaching migration law electives and involved in curriculum design, as well as students of international, common and civil law.

Presents perspectives on migration from all of the major social science disciplines, as part of the ongoing attempt to synthesize a general theory of migration. A section on general perspectives contains papers on areas such as a systems approach to a theory of rural-urban migration, political refugees, theories of international immigration, and a general theory of migration in late capitalism. A section on disciplinary perspectives looks at subjects including long- run economic effects of immigration, the formation of new states as a refugee-generating process, and recent European migration. Articles were originally published between 1958 and 1993. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

“Artfully integrates scholarship on both past and present migration. With its thematic focus on disruption, this volume develops unprecedented nuance in the treatment of migration.”—Graciela S. Cabana, coeditor of Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration “A significant contribution to the social sciences in general and a future staple for archaeologists and anthropologists. Migration and Disruptions demonstrates the importance of collaboration and constructive dialogues between the traditional subfields composing the umbrella title of anthropology.”—Stephen A. Brighton, author of Historical Archaeology of the Irish Diaspora: A Transnational Approach Migration has always been a fundamental human activity, yet little collaboration exists between scientists and social scientists examining how it has shaped past and contemporary societies. This innovative volume brings together sociocultural anthropologists, archaeologists, bioarchaeologists, ethnographers, paleopathologists, and others to develop a unifying theory of migration. The contributors relate past movements, including the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the Islamic conquest of Andalucía, to present-day events, such as those in northern Ethiopia or at the U.S.-Mexico border. They examine the extent to which environmental and social disruptions have been a cause of migration over time and how these migratory flows have in turn led to disruptive consequences for the receiving societies. The observed cycles of social disruption, resettlement, and its consequences offer a new perspective on how human migration has shaped the social, economic, political, and environmental landscapes of societies from prehistory to today. Contributors:Brenda J. Baker | Christopher S. Beekman | George L. Cowgill | Jason De Leon | James F. Eder | Anna Forringer-Beal | Cameron Gokee | Catherine Hills | Kelly J. Knudson | Patrick Manning | Jonathan Maupin | Lisa Meierotto | James Morrissey | Rachel E. Scott | Christina Torres-Rouff | Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda | Sonia Zakrzewski