Migration Geographies – some themes in recent academic Geography research - part 1

1. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 GeoCapabilities Migration Geographies – some themes in recent academic Geography research - 1 With thanks to Dr Ben Page UCL Geography Department, June 2021
2. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 1. How should migration be taught in school geography today? 2. What are the current ideas (and recent shifts) in geographies of migration in the university discipline? 3. How could / should these ideas be incorporated into school geography? Three issues to consider
3. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 1. How should migration be taught in school geography today?
4. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Intellectual curiosity? Understand… Describe… Explain… Respond…? Policy and Political Relevance? Visibility (or hypervisibility) of migration? Why would we/students want to study migration?
5. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Teaching should be provide ways that foster knowledge and critical analysis of: –theoretical approaches to migration –contemporary processes and data sources –key policy debates and institutions Teaching migration in school geography today
6. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Neo-classical economics New Economics of Labour Migration Migration Systems Transnationalism and Diaspora Integration/multiculturalism/Urban studies Remittances/Development Studies Politics/Security Studies Selected theoretical approaches
7. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 2. What are the current ideas (and recent shifts) in geographies of migration in the university discipline?
8. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Some key questions guiding the study of migration Why do people migrate? (yawn, but perennial!) –Why do only some people migrate, but not all? –Who can(not) migrate, and why? –Choice/agency and force/structure Where do people migrate to, and why? –Pre-existing networks, historical connections –Circular Migration, Return Migration
9. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Some key questions guiding the study of migration How do migrants experience different stages of/processes of migration? –Heterogeneity of experience How do other people(s), states and organisations respond to migration? –Representations; lived experiences of ‘hosting’ or ‘excluding’ others; and policies/politics
10. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 1. Important to put Recent Trends in Perspective: Histories of Migration The Genographic Project: https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/human-journey/
11. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Source: https://commons.princeton.edu/mg/major-population-movements-1500- 1914/
12. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:African_Slave_Trade.png
13. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 2. Is this an “Age of Migration”? 6 key trends: 1. globalization of migration 2. acceleration of migration 3. differentiation of migration 4. feminization of migration 5. politicization of migration 6. proliferation of migration de Haas, Castles and Miller (2020) De Haas, H., Miller, M.J. and Castles, S., 2019. The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world. Red Globe Press.
14. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/males-100- females-ratio-among-immigrants-1870-present
15. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 3. Thinking about who counts as a ‘migrant’? … there is no consensus on a single definition of a ‘migrant’. Migrants might be defined by foreign birth, by foreign citizenship, or by their movement into a new country to stay temporarily (sometimes for as little as a year) or to settle for the long-term. Some analyses of the impact of migration even include children who are UK-born or UK nationals, but whose parents are foreign-born or foreign-nationals, in the migrant population. Anderson and Blinder (2014) Anderson, B. and Blinder, S., 2014. Who Counts as a Migrant? Definitions and their Consequences. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
16. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 None of these definitions are equivalent None fit precisely with ‘migrant’ if defined as an individual who is subject to immigration controls. Moreover, in the UK ‘immigrant’ and ‘migrant’ (as well as ‘foreigner’) are commonly used interchangeably in public debate and even among research specialists, although dictionary definitions distinguish ‘immigrants’ - people who are or intend to be settled in their new country - from ‘migrants’ who are temporarily resident. Anderson and Blinder (2014) 3. Thinking about who counts as a ‘migrant’? Anderson, B. and Blinder, S., 2014. Who Counts as a Migrant? Definitions and their Consequences. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
17. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 4. Geographical Scale/unit of analysis/region Individual? Family? Household? Networks? Community? Nation? Region? Growing interest in new regions: - The Gulf - South East Asia
18. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 5. Provide an account of the contemporary global migration landscape
19. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Source: https://migrationdataportal.org/infographic/num ber-international-migrants-millions-region- destination-2000-and-2017
20. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Total (million) % of global population 1990 2.9 2013 232 3.2 2017 258 3.4 Contemporary global migration
21. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://www.geocapabilities.org GeoCapabilities 3 Source: https://reliefweb.int/map/world/world-refugee-day-refugees-hosting-countries-2017-emergency-response-coordination- centre

Editor's Notes

So… why should we study migration? 4-5 minutes in pairs to discuss why you are interested in studying migration

Ancestral curiosity – personal and familial experiences of migration – personal narratives etc…

The visibility of migration is relatively new?

Only recently occupied central political stage

State security vs migrant’s rights

Mobilization of extreme right groups – difficult for states to find solutions
Summary of theoretical approaches – which you should already have come across in your readings.

Next week you will explore the theoretical frameworks of transnationalism and diaspora in much more detail, and throughout the entire course we will discuss the significance of identity in experiences of and responses to ‘voluntary’ and ‘forced’ processes of migration across time and space. How individuals, families, and communities develop, maintain, inherit, and /or contest connections with different spaces and places even from a distance  through social, economic, political and military means. Facilitated through globalisation and diverse technologies  circular or temporary mobility, key to maintain connections across borders.
Processes of migration
‘causes’ ‘push factors’ and ;pull factors’

Experiences of migration (of deciding to leave a given place, experiences en route and in transit, and of settling or not settling in to the new host environment – or, indeed, of non-arrival; of not making it to the planned destination, either ending up somewhere unexpected, or dying en route…

Responses to migration: How do other stakeholders respond to migration (including the 97% of the world’s population who are NOT international migrants), and how do they conceptualise these processes

Representations – perceived/represented as ‘abnormal’, ‘dangerous’, desirable,’ or even ‘invisible’?
Processes of migration
‘causes’ ‘push factors’ and ;pull factors’

Experiences of migration (of deciding to leave a given place, experiences en route and in transit, and of settling or not settling in to the new host environment – or, indeed, of non-arrival; of not making it to the planned destination, either ending up somewhere unexpected, or dying en route…

Responses to migration: How do other stakeholders respond to migration (including the 97% of the world’s population who are NOT international migrants), and how do they conceptualise these processes

Representations – perceived/represented as ‘abnormal’, ‘dangerous’, desirable,’ or even ‘invisible’?
• Recent trends in perspective (Massey et al 1998)

Human migration is as old as human history
Genographic project, tracing the movement of people from ’Africa’ – tracing the different routes taken by Neanderthals and our other ancestors.

Regionally based migrations had of course taken place throughout history – whether through the Roman empire, the spread of Islam,

Before 1500, long-distance, or global migration occurred haphazardly, typically in the pursuit of spices, fame, pr exploration.
European Colonization of the world

First European colonize the Americas and the coasts of Africa and parts of Asia from the 1500s to the 1800s. Then European colonized interior Africa and Asia starting in the late 1800s and the 1900s.

– 1500-1900 movement out of Europe  colonial settlers ‘voluntarily’ migrating, but
not all migration was voluntary throughout this period, of course.
Not on this map = Colonisation resulted in the mass displacement of the original inhabitants of the areas colonised by Europeans,
On this map in purple: the mass African slave trade [over 12 million people] which enabled colonisers to maximise their exploitation of the colonies … [next slide]

pre-1925, 85% of all international migrants Europeans, 1800-1925 48m Europeans to Americas and Oceania;
In turn, – WW1 – 1950s a period of limited migration – 1960s onwards; increasingly a global phenomenon – important to situate today’s migration debates in historical context,
Slavery as a form of forced migration, but also the displacement of colonised peoples etc…
With these mass migrations in mind, to what extent can we argue that we are living in ‘An Age of Migration’, following the title of Castles’ and Miller’s book on your reading list?

Is migration changing over time and space? Castles and Miller argue that there are at least 6 key trends, which we will explore in more detail throughout the course – that migration is increasingly globalised through changes in technology, which mean that migration accelerates but also that migration involves different people (including an increasing proportion of women), and becomes increasingly politicised and becomes a key tool in media debates and political debates etc…
Picking up on the gendered reference in the account of the Ezeddin boat 

Who migrates? Why is there a difference? – 5 minutes to discuss in pairs based on this chart and your readings, including in particular Mahler

Gender and age
In addition to place – in terms of geographies of migration, directions, affiliations with different places and spaces, etc. - a key matter in migration studies is time

So, on the previous slide I included the UN definition of “migrant stock” = “the number of residents in a country who were born abroad”. In turn, the UN definition of a ‘long-term international migrant’ is “A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year [....] so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence”. In this understanding, one year is sufficient for a country to become ‘a country of habitual residence’ .

Throughout the course we therefore need to consider who is a migrant, and when does a migrant ‘stop’ being a migrant? How long does an individual or family, have to spend in a hosting country, before being considered to no longer ‘be’ a migrant – an Other – but part of the recipient community (part of the ‘self). Is it a matter of time, or identity – a matter of Legal status, self-perception, how migrants and their children and grandchildren identify themsevles, or, indeed how they are perceived by the public.

As noted by Anderson and Blinder, “the use of the term ‘migrant’ in public debate is extremely loose and often conflates issues of immigration, race/ethnicity, and asylum”

Famous distinction between ‘migrant’ and ‘expat’
In addition to place – in terms of geographies of migration, directions, affiliations with different places and spaces, etc. - a key matter in migration studies is time

So, on the previous slide I included the UN definition of “migrant stock” = “the number of residents in a country who were born abroad”. In turn, the UN definition of a ‘long-term international migrant’ is “A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year [....] so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence”. In this understanding, one year is sufficient for a country to become ‘a country of habitual residence’ .

Throughout the course we therefore need to consider who is a migrant, and when does a migrant ‘stop’ being a migrant? How long does an individual or family, have to spend in a hosting country, before being considered to no longer ‘be’ a migrant – an Other – but part of the recipient community (part of the ‘self). Is it a matter of time, or identity – a matter of Legal status, self-perception, how migrants and their children and grandchildren identify themsevles, or, indeed how they are perceived by the public.

As noted by Anderson and Blinder, “the use of the term ‘migrant’ in public debate is extremely loose and often conflates issues of immigration, race/ethnicity, and asylum”

Famous distinction between ‘migrant’ and ‘expat’
Some 232 million international migrants are living in the world today.

One key ‘myth’ relating to migration (according to Hein de Haas, but also Massey) = the assumption that “We live in an age of unprecedented migration’ • Last century – migrants: global population the same ie 2.5-3%

Compared to the global population, the number of international migrants remains relatively small.

In 2013, international migrants comprised about 3.2% of the world population, compared to 2.9% in 1990.
The geographies of migration: In 2013, the number of international migrants born in the South who lived in the North, or “South-North migration”, almost equaled the number of migrants born in the South who resided in the South, or “South-South migration”.

Today, about six out of every ten international migrants reside in the developed regions (Table 1).

Acceleration: during the period 2000-10, the global migrant stock grew twice as fast than during the previous decade.

However, since 2010, the increase in the migrant stock slowed down. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, the annual increase in the global migrant stock fell to about 3.6 million. This raises the question of why would an economic crisis decrease the global migration stock?

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