Migration studies is the academic study of human migration. Migration studies is an interdisciplinary field which draws on anthropology, prehistory, history, economics, law, sociology and postcolonial studies.
Origin and development of migration studies Migration studies did not develop along a uni-linear path and it has developed with significantly different trajectories in different academic cultures and traditions. Migration studies does not exist as a self-contained discipline and instead finds its heritage in a variety of places. Developments in the sociology of migration, the study of the history of human migration, theories and policies concerning labour migration, and postcolonial studies all fed into the growth of migration studies. The development of migration studies is also bound up with the growth in interdisciplinary pursuits which has resulted from the popularisation of postmodern thought in the past thirty years. In recent years, scholarship which takes interest in humanitarian issues has become increasingly popular. In part, this reflects displacement and refugee movements which have resulted from conflicts throughout the end of the 20th century and at the turn of the 21st century.
Key topics in migration studies Migration histories Archaeological studies frequently focus on early human migration flows, the spread of civilisation and the development of trade routes and settlements by early humans. The debate over migrationism and diffusionism features prominently in archaeological approaches to migration studies. The study of empire, colonisation, and diaspora constitute significant themes in historical approaches to migration studies. This has, for instance, manifested in studies of the forced migrations during the 1947 Partition of India,Riggs, E. P., & Jat, Z. R. (2016). The 1947 partition of India and Pakistan: Migration, material landscapes, and the making of nations. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 3(2), 139-146. the internal displacement of the 1861-1865 American Civil War, or the Great Migration of 6 million African Americans from the rural southern states to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West.Silkenat, D. (2016). Driven from home, North Carolina's Civil War refugee crisis (Uncivil wars). Athens: The University of Georgia Press. Scholars can research migration histories through a variety of methods including quantitative approaches based on censuses and government documents, social histories, the examination of material culture, or through autobiography.
Literature and the arts One branch of research in migration studies involves the consideration of how migration, settlement, and diaspora interact with literature and the arts. For example, in a 2017 paper Dr Michelle Keown discussed how US military imperialism and Marshallese migration affected the poetry of Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner.Keown, M. (2017). Children of Israel: US Military Imperialism and Marshallese Migration in the Poetry of Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner. Interventions, 19(7), 930-947. Researchers have also examined migration in relation to the circulation of music, particularly of folk-songs.Karimi, A. (2017). Medium of the Oppressed: Folk Music, Forced Migration, and Tactical Media. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(4), 729-745. Migration is a recurring theme in much popular media, such as in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2013 novel Americanah or in contemporary film such as Roma (2018), consequently, discussions on migration and the arts are some of the more publicly visible avenues of scholarship in migration studies. More recently, attention has been paid to how theatre becomes a site for migrant performing their agency within public spaces.Lech K. (2020) Claiming Their Voice: Foreign Memories on the Post-Brexit Stage. In: Meerzon Y., Dean D., McNeil D. (eds) Migration and Stereotypes in Performance and Culture. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39915-3_12 Online Link In 2020 article, Kasia Lech studied responses to Brexit by multilingual UK-based migrant theatre practitioners, Situating their work in "the paradox of simultaneous hyper- and in-visibility of immigrants in the UK" and argued that "the migrant perspective is crucial for the debate on Brexit as part of the broader European Union’s crisis of commonality and solidarity.".Lech K. (2020) Claiming Their Voice: Foreign Memories on the Post-Brexit Stage. In: Meerzon Y., Dean D., McNeil D. (eds) Migration and Stereotypes in Performance and Culture. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39915-3_12 Online Link
Urbanism Scholars of migration in the context of urbanism consider the dynamics of how cities and migrant populations interact. This can include issues of town planning, issues of ghettoisation and social exclusion, and processes of integration and community-building. Urbanists may also consider how one can regard refugee camps as global cities, and how to plan, develop, and operate these camp spaces.
Economics The economic results of migration, (e.g. human capital flight) are a popular area of research and stimulate much consequent debate. Perhaps the most publicly discussed topic within the economics of migration is transnational labour migration and how migrants are either encouraged or discouraged to move as a result of economic considerations, this remains a controversial and multifaceted topic. Migration is researched in relation to its impacts on both sending and destination communities. The study of how migrant workers send remittances is another frequent topic for scholars studying the economics of migration.Philpott, S. (1968). "Remittance Obligations, Social Networks and Choice Among Montserratian Migrants in Britain". Man, 3(3), 465-476. Some research has focused on novel topics including the internal economies of refugee camps,Ranalli, B. (2014). Local Currencies: A Potential Solution for Liquidity Problems in Refugee Camp Economies. Journal of Refugee Studies, 27(3), 422-433. the economics of human trafficking, and how employment law affects undocumented workers.Wheaton, E., Schauer, E., & Galli, T. (2010). Economics of Human Trafficking. International Migration, 48(4), 114-141.Inghammar, A. (2010). The Employment Contract Revisited. Undocumented Migrant Workers and the Intersection between International Standards, Immigration Policy and Employment Law. European Journal of Migration and Law, 12(2), 193-214.
Demography Studies of migration demography take a statistical approach to the size, structure, and distribution of migrant populations. One can research migrant communities either in isolation or as part of a broader population. Demographic studies of migration often consider issues such as migrant health, welfare, employment, and education in relation to the non-migrant population of a given society.
Public attitudes Migration scholars investigate migrant reception through surveying and studying how host populations understand and respond to immigration. This might include feelings concerning refugee reception and support, considerations of multiculturalism and integration, and attitudes towards government policies. Frequently, scholars investigate how non-migrant publics consider migrants, this has resulted in a relative lack of scholarship which considers the opposite dynamic.
Critical border studies Critical border studies explores alternatives to how territorial borders are currently imagined and operated. Part of this approach means identifying and investigating how borders function, to whose benefit these borders function, and whom such borders affect negatively.Parker, N., & Vaughan-Williams, N. (2012). Critical border studies: Broadening and deepening the 'Lines in the Sand' Agenda. Geopolitics, 17(4), 727-733. Scholars associated with critical border studies regard borders as part of a system of performances by which states maintain and exert power over territory; this intersects with understandings of sovereignty and securitization. Scholars associated with this branch of migration studies are frequently critical of how states may rely on a monopoly of force to assert governance over given territories, consequently strains of anarchist philosophy, postcolonial thought, and anti-statism are popular within critical border studies.Bluff, Rachel. (2000). Internal Frontiers, Transnational Politics, 1945-65: Im/migration policy as World Domination. in R. C. King. (ed.) Postcolonial America. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. pp.122-153.
Immigration law Immigration law necessarily affects many subsections of migration studies and it is consequently a point of interest for a wide range of migration scholars. One can approach the subject of immigration law through sub-national, national, and international frameworks. The study of immigration law frequently intersects with discussions of human rights.
Migrant il/legality and "crimmigration" In common with approaches found in critical border studies, many scholars consider how systems which govern migration construct illegality and thereby criminalize migrant populations.Sharpless, Rebecca. (2016). Immigrants are Not Criminals: Respectability, Immigration Reform, and Hyperincarceration. Houston Law Review, 691. pp. 691-794.Menjivar, Cecilia and Kanstroom, Daniel. (2014). "Constructing Immigrant 'Illegality': Critiques, Experiences, and Responses". New York: Cambridge University Press. This approach displaces the discussion of illegality from the migrant subject and instead scrutinises the behaviour of nation-state governments.Nyers, Peter. (2010). "No One is Illegal between City and Nation", Studies in Social Justice. 4(2), pp. 127–143. Critical approaches to the construction of citizenship recur within this strand of scholarship.McNevin, Anne. (2012) "Undocumented Citizens? Shifting grounds of citizenship in Los Angeles". In Peter Nyers and Kim Rygiel, eds., Citizenship, Migrant Activism and the Politics of Movement. London: Routledge. pp. 165-183. This approach to understanding migration is particularly relevant for scholars working on issues involving undocumented populations. The term "crimmigration" has emerged as a way to conceptualize how migrants are frequently treated as criminals, deviants, and security risks.
Displacement Forced migration Forced migration is the coerced movement of humans from their origin to a (frequently undesired) new destination. Studies concerning forced migration explore the processes by which people are displaced, how destination countries receive and support displaced people, and the experiences of forced migrations. Studies concerning forced migration frequently overlap with issues concerning genocide studies, settler colonialism, humanitarianism, deportation and ethnic cleansing. The term "forced" is frequently debated for its suggestion that there is a clear distinction between voluntary and involuntary human movement.
Refugee studies Scholars focusing on refugee studies typically consider the experiences of people affected by transnational forced-migration processes. The definition of a refugee varies considerably within the refugee-studies community, with some insisting on the strict definitions of 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and others relying on more fluid or amorphous definitions.
Refugee studies represent a distinct overarching group within migration studies as it differs significantly from the topics which are central to more voluntary phenomena such as labour-market migration. The concept of refugees as weapons is analyzed as a forced experience of a mass exodus of refugees from a state to a hostile state as a "weapon."
Internal displacement