Understanding International Migration

Uniquely informed by a sociological perspective, this major new textbook introduces the underlying origins and consequences of international migration, placing individuals within a broader social, cultural and historical context.

This comprehensive introduction analyses international migration and its effects on those who migrate, their families, and their places of origin and destination. Drawing on illustrative examples from around the world, the book covers the major theories concerning the origins of international migration and the manner, degree and consequences of migrants' incorporation into the societies to which they move. It also includes in-depth discussion of how international migration is relevant to key issues gender, the family, and religion; the so-called refugee 'crisis' in much of the developed world; and offers insights throughout into cutting-edge research from emotions and lifestyle migration to the proliferation of digital communication technologies.

This text expertly offers students the necessary skills to unpack common myths that are used to inform policy and media discourse, including abstract distinctions between 'refugee' and 'economic migrant', the complex and ambiguous nature of migrant national identity, and that while many richer countries of the world are characterized by a perceived refugee 'crisis', it is in fact poorer and developing countries that see the vast majority of the world's refugees and displaced persons.

Unique in offering detailed coverage of gender, the family and religion within one text Genuinely global in scope, featuring empirical examples from around the world Avoids a top-down perspective to unpack the dynamics of international migration beyond policy and states

Autorentext

Ross Bond is Senior Lecturer and Head of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Understanding the origins of international migration.- Chapter 3. Understanding Migrant Incorporation: Assimilation and Multiculturalism.- Chapter 4. Migrants' associations with their 'homelands': transnationalism, diaspora and development.- Chapter 5. Gender and migration.- Chapter 6. Migration and the Family.- Chapter 7. Religion and migration.- Chapter 8. Forced migration, refugees and displacement.- Chapter 9. Emerging Themes in International Migration.- Chapter 10. Conclusions.