During the last decade the issue of migration has increased in global prominence and has caused controversy among host countries around the world. To remedy the tendency of scholars to speak only to and from their own disciplinary perspective, this book brings together in a single volume essays dealing with central concepts and key theoretical issues in the study of international migration across the social sciences. Editors Caroline B. Brettell and James F. Hollifield have guided a thorough revision of this seminal text, with valuable insights from such fields as anthropology, demography, economics, geography, history, law, political science, and sociology. Each essay focuses on key concepts, questions, and theoretical frameworks on the topic of international migration in a particular discipline, but the volume as a whole teaches readers about similarities and differences across the boundaries between one academic field and the next. How, for example, do political scientists wrestle with the question of citizenship as compared with sociologists, and how different is this from the questions that anthropologists explore when they deal with ethnicity and identity? Are economic theories about ethnic enclaves similar to those of sociologists? What theories do historians (the "essentializers") and demographers (the "modelers") draw upon in their attempts to explain empirical phenomena in the study of immigration? What are the units of analysis in each of the disciplines and do these shape different questions and diverse models and theories? Scholars and students in migration studies will find this book a powerful theoretical guide and a text that brings them up to speed quickly on the important issues and the debates. All of the social science disciplines will find that this book offers a one-stop synthesis of contemporary thought on migration.

Includes statistical tables.

Through pressing, current case studies, contributors examine the ubiquitous interplay among migration, development, culture, human rights, and government, all toward advancing more effective solutions to international migration issues.

With contributions from leading scholars in international development, economics, political science, and sociology, this collection draws attention to migration's developmental impacts on sending and receiving societies. Through current case studies, contributors examine the interplay among migration, development, culture, family reunification, human rights, and government, all with the aim of advancing more effective solutions to international migration issues. The volume's multidisciplinary perspective combines theoretical discussions with empirical applications, appealing to both academics and policymakers eager to maximize migration's developmental impacts. The collection begins with a discussion detailing when and why migration promotes growth and what kind of indicators beyond GDP should be considered. Challenging a number of misconceptions, such as the assumption that redressing poverty and alleviating underdevelopment in immigrant communities are solely economic pursuits, contributors acknowledge the inherent cultural dimension in the migration–development debate and define the contours of a research program that systematically and comparatively weighs the cultural dynamics of development and migration. They also emphasize the role of human rights in reinforcing positive developmental outcomes, how traditional social roles and its developmental impacts are reshaped by the international migration of women and children, and international migration's developmental impacts within specific geographic regions.

During the last decade studies have indicated that migration has been a normal, structural element of human societies throughout history. Progress in migration and settlement studies under this new paradigm has been so substantial that a new state of the art is needed. This book presents a reconsideration of current theoretical perspectives encompassing enlightened insights in diverging specialisms in the field of migration history, such as slavery studies, ethnic history, macro-economic migration studies, and gypsy studies. The seventeen essays in this volume, written by leading scholars in the field, collectively represent a pioneering effort in migration and settlement studies. They address the problems of ongoing specialization (and hence the need for synthesis) and the difficulties of integrating the consequences of this new paradigm into general histories.

The Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies offers a comprehensive study of the multi-disciplinary field of international migration and asylum studies. The new edition incorporates numerous new chapters on issues including return migration, the relationship between urbanisation and migration, the role of advanced digital technologies in migration governance, decision making and human agency, and the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on global migration. Utilising contemporary information and analysis, this innovative Handbook provides an in-depth examination of the major analytical questions pertaining to migration and asylum, whilst discussing key areas such as work, welfare, families, citizenship, the relationship between migration and development, asylum and irregular migration. With a comprehensive collection of essays written by leading contributors from different world regions and covering a broad range of disciplines including sociology, geography, legal studies, political science, and economics, the Handbook is a truly multidisciplinary reader. Organised into thematic and geographical chapters, the Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies provides a concise overview on the different topics and world regions, as well as useful guidance for both the starting and the more experienced reader. The Handbook’s expansive content and illustrative style will appeal to both students and professionals studying in the field of migration and international organisations.