CityReads | 16 Must-Read Migration Classics

298

16 Must-Read Migration Classics 

Migration classics that you might not have read. 

Source: https://twitter.com/heindehaas

Hein de Haas, Sociology professor at the University of Amsterdam, has raised a question to his fellow migration researchers on Twitter recently.

"Dear fellow migration researchers, I am curious to know what are your top migration classics for students, both in terms of substance and readability?"

Prof. Haas first listed and briefly introduced five of the most favorite articles and one book that has deeply changed his view on migration. Of course, he acknowledged that the small list of personal favorites does not do any justice to the richness of the research literature.

1."Migration and Social Change: Some Conceptual Reflections" by Alejandro Portes

One of the most thought-provoking, fundamental and well-written papers on migration ever written.

Abstract: Examining the multiple ways in which migration relates to social change is a daunting task. It requires, first of all, defining what social change is and, secondarily, delimiting the scope of analysis to certain types of migration and not others. The greatest dangers that I envision in this enterprise are, first, getting lost in generalities of the ‘social change is ubiquitous’ kind and, second, attempting to cover so much terrain as to lose sight of analytic priorities and of major, as opposed to secondary, causal linkages. I seek to avoid these dangers by first discussing the concept of social change, second identifying the types of migration to be considered, and third examining the major factors that link one to another. I conclude the paper with four theoretical and methodological considerations that may guide future work in this field.

Link: https://tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489370?casa_token=AwSKxz4cSM4AAAAA:DDQ3YuMUbt52-1ltpQsTvldlq38L4WQfUkHCkv5iDRT5m8S_QKNb3appw1pEkNLDDRQn1IWstHWV

2."Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal" by Massey et al.

And, without a single doubt, the most comprehensive, and wonderfully succinct, overview of classic migration theories ever written. "Theories of migration" by Massey et al. A real classic. And mandatory 101 reading for any serious student of migration.

Link: 

https://isfcolombia.uniandes.edu.co/images/2019-intersemestral/14_de_junio/Theories_of_International_Migration.pdf

3. "A theory of migration" by Everett S. Lee

Another migration classic, from 1966 (!). Humbling, as it makes you realise how much we already knew back then. Incorrectly referred to as the 'push-pull' model by many researchers who I suspect never read the actual article.

Link: 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.2307/2060063

4. "The laws of migration" by Ravenstein

And credit to whom credit is due: 'The laws of migration' from 1885, by Ravenstein, the founding father of migration studies. Containing vital, still highly relevant, insights on he complex geographical patterning of internal and international migration.

Link: 

https://jstor.org/stable/2979181?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

5. "The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition" by Zelinsky

Last but not least, Zelinsky's The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition from 1971 provides a radically different, historically rooted, view on migration that destroys the predictions of push-pull models and has been a great inspiration to me.

Link: 

https://emigratecaportuguesa.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/2009-the-hypothesis-of-the-mobility-transition.pdf

6. "Migration and Development" by Ronald Skeldon

Migration and Development, by Ronald Skeldon (1997), is the best migration book I have ever read. It deeply influenced my understanding of migration. Backed up by solid evidence, the book convincingly argues that migration IS development.  

After Prof. Haas listed his top five, he received many replies from his fellow researchers, who also recommended their personal favorite articles or books on migration classics.

7. "Birds of passage" by Piore, recommended by Fede Abizanda

Birds of Passage presents an unorthodox analysis of migration to urban industrial societies from underdeveloped rural areas. It argues that such migrations are a continuing feature of industrial societies and that they are generated by forces inherent in the nature of industrial economies. It explains why conventional economic theory finds such migrations so difficult to comprehend, and challenges a set of older assumptions that supported the view that these migrations were beneficial to both sending and receiving societies. On the basis of this critique, he develops an alternative theory of the nature of the migration process.

8. "The Immigrant Threat" by Leo Lucassen, recommended by Dilek Cinar

Leo Lucassen tackles the question of whether the integration process of these recent immigrants will fundamentally differ in the long run (over multiple generations) from the experiences of similar immigrant groups in the past. For comparison, Lucassen focuses on "large and problematic groups" from Western Europe's past (the Irish in the United Kingdom, the Poles in Germany, and the Italians in France) and demonstrates a number of structural similarities in the way migrants and their descendants integrated into these nation states. Lucassen emphasizes that the geographic sources of the "threat" have changed and that contemporaries tend to overemphasize the threat of each successive wave of immigrants, in part because the successfully incorporated immigrants of the past have become invisible in national histories.

9."Moving Europeans: migration in Western Europe since 1650" by Leslie Page Moch, recommended by Leo Lucassen

Moving Europeans tells the story of the vast movements of people throughout Europe and examines the links between human mobility and the fundamental changes that transformed European life.

10."International migration, immobility and development" by Hammar et al., recommended by Pawel Kaczmarczyk

The authors ask provocative new questions such as the counterfactual, `Why do people not migrate? and address old questions in fresh ways in a language accessible for students in a range of disciplines. Does migration from less developed countries stimulate or obstruct development? Does development reduce or increase the flows of migration? What are the dynamics of a migration process?

11. "Social remittances: migration driven local-level forms of cultural diffusion" by Peggy Levitt, recommended by Ajay Bailey

This article focuses on social remittances - a local-level, migration-driven form of cultural diffusion. Social remittances are the ideas, behaviors, identities, and social capital that flow from receiving- to sending-country communities. The role that these resources play in promoting immigrant entrepreneurship, community and family formation, and political integration is widely acknowledged. This article specifies how these same ideas and practices are remolded in receiving countries, the mechanisms by which they are sent back to sending communities, and the role they play in transforming sending-country social and political life.

12."Migration in World History" by Patrick Manning，recommended by Leo Lucassen

Migration in World History traces the connections among regions brought about by the movement of people, diseases, crops, technology and ideas.

13."Ethnic Economies" by Light & Gold, recommended by labour & migration

The phenomenon of increasingly visible groups of immigrant entrepreneurs raises a host of questions. What are the causes of immigrant entrepreneurship? What are its consequences, especially as regards upward mobility and inter-ethnic relations? And what accounts for differences in entrepreneurship among ethnic groups? Ethnic Economies provides a broad overview of ethnicity and entrepreneurship, connecting it with broader studies of economic life.

14."Illegal Traveler" by Khosravi，recommended by Rebecca Galemba

Based on fieldwork among undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers Illegal Traveller offers a narrative of the polysemic nature of borders, border politics, and rituals and performances of border-crossing. Interjecting personal experiences into ethnographic writing it is 'a form of self-narrative that places the self within a social context'.

15."Dying to Live" by Joseph Nevins, recommended by Rebecca Galemba

A compelling account of U.S. immigration and border enforcement told through the journey of one man who perished in California's Imperial Valley while trying to reunite with his wife and child in Los Angeles. Moreover, it provides a valuable perspective on the historical geography of U.S./Mexico relations, and immigration and boundary enforcement, illustrating its profound impact on people's lives and deaths

16. "Anthropology and Migration: Essays on Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and Identity" by Caroline B. Brettell，recommended by Vivian A. Martínez Díaz

If you're interested in anthropological perspectives of migration, I recommend you papers, chapters and books written by Caroline B. Brettell. This book is a classic.

The author analyzes macro and micro approaches to migration theory, utilizing her extensive fieldwork in Portugal as well as research in Germany, Brazil, France, the United States and Canada. Key issues she discusses include: the value of immigrant incorporation vs. assimilation models; the impacts on individual, household and community as well as institutions and states; the role of ethnicity and ethnic groups; the effects of clandestine or illegal immigration; the differing commitments to host vs. sending communities; the shift from city enclaves to suburban areas; the constraints and opportunities that lead to ethnic entrepreneurship; the role of religion in transnational linkages; and the differing experiences of men and women as migrants. Brettell also explores the relevance of life histories and oral narratives in understanding the immigration process and the mediation of boundaries in a new society. 

Related CityReads

4. CityReads│Why is migration both inevitable and desirable?

（Click the title or enter our WeChat menu and reply number ）

CityReads ∣Notes On Cities

"CityReads", a subscription account on WeChat, 

posts our notes on city reads weekly. 

Please follow us by searching "CityReads"