The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by weaving together diverse strands of arguments related to international migration in ways not attempted before. Throughout the chapters, the book brings together original and cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a rather global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

This pivot considers the emergence and functioning of the migration industry and commercialization of migration pathways in Asia. Grounded in extensive fieldwork and building on empirical data gathered through interactions and interviews with brokers, agents and other facilitators of migration, it examines the increasing co-dependence on, entanglement of and overlap between migrants, industry and state. It considers how for low-skilled migrants, migration is often not even possible without the involvement of the industry. As the opportunity to migrate has opened up to an ever-widening group of potential migrants, receiving nations have fine-tuned their migration infrastructure and programs to facilitate the inflow (and timely outflow) of the migrants it deems desirable. The migration industry plays an active role as mediator between migrants’ desires and states' requirements. This pivot focuses on what unites sending and receiving sides of migration, going beyond presupposed established networks, and offering a clear conceptualization of the contemporary migration industry in Asia.

In 'International Migration' a multinational, multi-disciplinary group of scholars offer a comprehensive, up-to-date survey of global patterns of international migration which shows that the phenomenon is rooted in the expansion and consolidation of global markets rather than poverty or population growth.

Migration has become business, big business. Over the last few decades a host of new business opportunities have emerged that capitalize both on the migrants’ desires to migrate and the struggle by governments to manage migration. From the rapid growth of specialized transportation and labour immigration companies, to multinational companies managing detention centres or establishing border security, to the organized criminal networks profiting from human smuggling and trafficking, we are currently witnessing a growing commercialization of international migration. This volume claims that today it is almost impossible to speak of migration without also speaking of the migration industry. Yet, acknowledging the role the migration industry plays prompts a number of questions that have so far received only limited attention among scholars and policy makers. The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by bringing together cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

At the end of the 20th century nearly all developed nations have become countries of immigration, absorbing growing numbers of immigrants not only from developed regions, byt increasingly from developing nations of the Third World. Although international migration has come to play a central role in the social, economic, and demographic dynamics of both immigrant-sending and immigrant-receiving countries, social scientist have been slow to construct a comprehensive theory to explain it. Efforts at theoretical explanation have been fragmented by disciplinary, geographic, and methodological boudaries. Worlds in Motion seeks to overcome these schisms to create a comprehensive theory of international migration for the next century. After explicating the various propositions and hypotheses of current theories, and identifying area of complementarity and conflict, the authors review empirical research emanting from each of the world's principal international migration systems: North America, Western Europe, the Gulf, Asia and the Pacific, and the Southern Cone of South America. Using data from the 1980s, levels and patterns of migration within each system are described to define their structure and organization. Specific studies are then comprehensively surveyed to evaluate the fundamental propositions of neoclassical economics, the new economics of labour migration, segmented labour market theory, world systems theory, social capital theory, and the theory of cumulative causation. The various theories are also tested by applying them to the relationship between international migration and economic development. Although certain theories seem to function more effectively in certain systems, all contain elements of truth supported by empirical research. The task of the theorist is thus to identify which theories are most effective in accounting for international migration in the world today, and what regional and national circumstances lead to a predominance of one theoretical mechanism over another. The book concludes by offering an empirically-grounded theoretical synthesis to serve as a guide for researchers and policy-makers in the 21st century.

Two unconnected but important recent academic and policy debates have focussed on the idea of the knowledge-based economy and the economic consequences of increasing international migration. This book challenges pre-conceived views on the debates and argues the need to understand that all migrants are potentially knowledge carriers and learners, and that they play an essential role in the globalization of knowledge transactions. Deconstructing the concept of knowledge, and demonstrating how tacit knowledge is in fact an amalgam of encultured and embrained/embodied forms of knowledge this book considers how international migration has profound consequences, analysed, first, in terms of the economic and immigration strategies of national and regional bodies. And, secondly, the authors explore how the ‘diversity dividend’ of migration is captured by firms through their management strategies, and by individuals through increasingly boundaryless careers, continuous learning and transnational working lives. This research is a highly original contribution which provides the first overview of one of the most dynamic forces for change in the globalising economy. It will challenge migration researchers and students to engage with the management and learning literatures, and it will challenge management and economic policy analysts to think through the role of international migration. As such it will contribute to teaching and research in a range of social science disciplines, as well as to those involved in policy arenas ensuring that firms and all migrants engage in mutual learning and knowledge sharing.

States have long been wary of putting international migration on the global agenda. As an issue that defines sovereignty - that is, who enters and remains on a state's territory - international migration has called for protection of national prerogatives and unilateral actions. However, since the end of World War I, governments have sought ways to address various aspects of international migration in a collaborative manner. This book examines how these efforts to increase international cooperation have evolved from the early twentieth century to the present. The scope encompasses all of the components of international migration: labor migration, family reunification, refugees, human trafficking and smuggling, and newly emerging forms of displacement (including movements likely to result from global climate change). The final chapter assesses the progress (and lack thereof) in developing an international migration regime and makes recommendations towards strengthening international cooperation in this area.