Migration

Migration: What Is It?

• Migration is–The movement of a person or people

from one place to another• Multiple causes• Multiple consequences

Anthropological Study of Migration

• A challenge to traditional anthropological work

• Multi-sited research often necessary• Macro-micro factors

– Local versus global issues• Categories of migration

– Based on geography– Based on reason(s) for moving

Categories of Migration Based on Spatial Boundaries

• Internal migration• International migration• Transnational migration

Internal Migration

• Rural-to-urban is the dominant form

• Push-pull theory: – little opportunity at home in rural sector– perceived quality-of-life factors, “rational

choice” that more options exist in the city– concepts of where a better life can be achieved

International Migration

• Growing since 1945• Work-related reasons important for

voluntary migrants• Increasing involuntary international

migrants– E.g. refugees from political violence, trafficked

persons• Major political issue among nations

receiving refugees

Transnational Migration

• Where a person regularly moves back and forth between two or more countries

• Often motivated by economic factors• Importance of remittances: money sent

back to home country

Categories of Migration Based on Reason for Moving

• Labor migrants• Displaced persons• Institutional migrants

Labor Migrants

• Wage labor migration– Work period brief, no permanent residence

• Entrepreneurial migration– Migrants moving to set up businesses and trade– Has been occurring for centuries

• Professional migration– Highly trained immigrants seeking jobs in more

developed countries– “Brain drains” in less developed countries

Displaced Persons or Involuntary Migrants

• Refugees: largest group of migrants worldwide

• Internally displaced persons (IDPs)

Refugees

• A large/growing category of displaced persons

• International displacement• Roughly one of every 500 people in the

world• Majority are women/children• Causes: war, conflict, climate change• Major political issue

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

• Fastest-growing category of displaced people

• Over 20 million people today• Africa has the most IDPs• Causes:

– Political violence – Development projects (Development Induced

Displacement or DIDs) such as dams, roads, other public works

Institutional Migrants

• People who move into a social institution– Voluntary: e.g. going away to school, joining the

military– Involuntary: e.g. going to jail, moving into a

retirement home– Both have issues of adjustment to the new

cultural system

Environment and Migration

• Global environmental issues:– Climate change

• Politically contested, scientifically accepted– Indigenous, small-scale, marginalized societies

often the first to suffer consequences• Rising sea levels in Kiribati, Island in Pacific; island

nation literally disappearing• Glacier melt in Bolivia: source of water for indigenous

communities disappearing– Migration is the cost of climate change in many

places worldwide, will only grow