Migration

by

Charles Watters

• LAST REVIEWED: 23 March 2012
• LAST MODIFIED: 23 March 2012
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791231-0050

Introduction

There is a large and disparate range of reading available on the subject of migration. This is reflective of the subject matter. Human migration can encompass international businessmen and businesswomen, international students, labor migration, family reunification, human trafficking, transnational adoption and fostering, refugees, and asylum seekers. While migration has been a feature of human life for centuries, the modern age has seen a rapid increase in the pace of migration, in the range of countries migrants are departing from and arriving in, and the diversity of the people who are migrating. There are a number of good general books on the subject as well as specialized studies of the phenomenon in different parts of the globe and of different categories of migrants. National governments and international organizations such as the International Organization of Migration and the International Labour Organization have detailed websites that offer up-to-date information on migration. This includes a mass of “grey literature” including reports commissioned by governments and regional authorities that are aimed toward developing a profile of migrants and the actual and potential needs and demands they may have toward government services. A further salient issue is the interdisciplinary nature of the subject area. Important contributions come from a range of fields such as demography, social policy, sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, psychiatry, and social work. Many valuable studies contain a variety of disciplinary perspectives as well as offer a wide range of methodological approaches

General Overviews

Given the range and complexity of human migration, it is rare for any one book to offer an account of anything more than one aspect of the phenomenon. There are, however, some very good introductory texts that offer nuanced and reasonably detailed accounts of contemporary migration. Castles and Miller 2009, The Age of Migration, provides an excellent overview of the field and provides a succinct exposition of theories of migration. Massey, et al. 1998 also offers a wide-ranging and nuanced account of migration and places the phenomenon within a context of distinct historical phases. Held, et al. 1999 places migration within the context of a broader analysis of globalization, offering a compelling account of its linkages with changing international modes of production. Cornelius, et al. 2004 focuses attention on the ways in which modern nation-states control immigration and the impact of changes in law and policy on human migration

• Castles, Stephen, and Mark J. Miller. The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. 4th ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

  This is an excellent introductory text that offers a comprehensive overview of the global dynamics of international population movements. Subsequent editions of the book have focused more concertedly on forced migration and offer case studies on the impact of forced migration in a range of countries.

• Cornelius, Wayne A., Takeyuki Tsuda, James Hollifield, and Philip Martin, eds. Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. 2d ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004.

  This book contains a useful collection of essays examining immigration policies in different parts of globe.

• Held, David, Anthony G. McGrew, David Goldblatt, and Jonathon Perraton. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 1999.

  While this book offers broad coverage of the phenomenon of globalization, it is listed here because it offers a wide range of material on the context and specificities of migration.

• Massey, Douglas S., Joaquin Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, and J. Edward Taylor. Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.

  Massey and colleagues offer a conceptually rich and critical perspective on migration at the end of the 20th century.