theories of migrations

1. THEORIES OF
MIGRATION
P R ES E N T E D BY : D H A N R A J S A LV I
T.Y. B . A RC H
M M I E D C O A

2. Zelinsky Model
he Zelinsky Model of Migration Transition, also known as the Migration
Transition Model,
claims that the type of migration that occurs within a country depends on
how developed it is or what type of society it is.
A connection is drawn from migration to the stages of within
the Demographic Transition Model (DTM).
It was developed by Willbur Zelinsky (1921–2013),

3. Model stages
Stage one (“Premodern traditional society”):
Stage one (“Premodern traditional society”): This is before
the onset of the urbanization, and it is very little to no
migration and natural increase rates are about zero. There
are very high levels of mobility (nomadism), but very little
migration.

4. Stage two
(“Early transitional society”):
During stage two a “massive movement from countryside to
cities" occurs. And as a "community experiences the process
of modernization”. There is a “rapid rate of natural
increase”. And Internationally there is a high rate of
emigration, although the total population number is still
rising.

5. Stage three
(“Late transitional society”):
Stage three corresponds to the “critical rung...of the mobility transition” where
urban-to-urban migration surpasses the rural-to-urban migration, where rural-
to-urban migration “continues but at waning absolute or relative rates”, and “a
complex migrational and circular movements within the urban network, from
city to city or within a single metropolitan region”increased, circulation and non-
economic migration starts to emerge. Then the net-out migration trend shifts to
a net-in migration trend as more people immigrate than emigrate. That is, more
people move in rather than out.

6. Stage four
(“Advanced society”):
During stage four the “movement from countryside to city continues
but is further reduced in absolute and relative terms, vigorous
movement of migrants from city to city and within individual urban
agglomerations...especially within a highly elaborated lattice of
major and minor metropolises” is observed. A large increase of
urban to suburban migration can also occur. There is a “slight to
moderate rate of natural increase or none at all”.

7. Stage five
(“Future super advanced society”):
During stage five “Nearly all residential migration may be of
the interurban and interurban variety…. No plausible
predictions of fertility behavior because of a declining
population,...a stable mortality pattern slightly below
present levels”.

8. Lee’s Model
Everett Lee’s Theory of Migration:
Everett Lee in his A Theory of Migration divides the factors that
determine the decision to migrate and the process of migration
into four categories:
1. Factors associated with the Area of Origin:
There are many factors which motivate people to leave their place of
origin to outside area. They are push factors.

9. 2. Factors associated with the Area of
Destination:
There are very attractive forces at the area of
destination to which the proportion of “selectivity”
migrants is high. According to Lee, such forces are
found in metropolitan areas of a country. Pull factors are
present in such areas.

10. 3. Intervening Obstacles:
There are intervening obstacles like distance and
transportation which increase migrant selectivity of the
area of destination. These obstacles have been
lessened in modern times with technological advances.
Lee also refers to cost of movements, ethnic barriers
and personal factors as intervening obstacles

11. 4. Personal Factors:
Lastly, it is the personal factors on which the decision to migrate from the place of origin to the
place of destination depends. In fact, it is an individual’s perception of the ‘pull and push forces’
which influence actual migration.
He categorises these forces into “pluses” and “minuses” respectively. In other words, pluses are
pull factors and minuses are push factors. In between them are “zeros” which balance the
competing forces.
These are explained in following fig., where the first circle represents the area of origin and the
second circle the area of destination.
The sign pluses represents the forces that attract people to a place (pull factors) and that of
minuses represents the forces that push people from the area.
Zeros represent the indifference of the people towards migration. In between these forces are the
intervening obstacles.

12. According to Lee, it is the personal factors such as
age, sex, race and education which alongwith the pull-
push factors and intervening obstacles that determine
migration. Further, there are sequential migrants such
as children and wives of migrants who have little role in
the decision to migrate.

13. REF:
http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/demography
/migration-demography/top-3-theories-of-
migration/3148
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelinsky_Model
https://prezi.com/8juskrgkgurp/zelinskys-model-
of-mobility-transition/
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