INTRODUCTION

Why are we doing research on migration?

 We are all migrants… Once we’re in the world, we’re on the move and looking for a place to stop…
(Josipovici, 1977)
 Mobility paradigm: Incessant mobility of the (post-) modern era with its metaphorical figures of the
tourist and the vagabond (and the migrant, the refugee, the pilgrim etc.) arranged in a ‘kinetic
hierarchy’ of voluntary and forced mobility and immobility… (Cresswell, 2006)
 We are living in an age of migration (Castles, Miller, 2010)

Migration is a space–time phenomenon, defined by thresholds of distance and time. - It maks it extremly
geographical

Mobility Dimensions

Migration Typology (King 2012)

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Deconstructing the binaries of migration and new forms of mobility

-Process vs product:
The study of the actual act of migration as movement across space. The study of the ethnic communities
and diasporas that are the product of migration. Castles (2000) migration encompasses all aspects of the
lived reality of migrants and may be referred to “as the migratory process, a term which underlines that
migration is not a single event but a life-long process which affects all aspects of a migrant’s existence, as
well as the lives of non-migrants and communities in both sending and receiving countries”.

-Internal vs international:
History, political changes, international cooperation etc. It all can change and internal movement into an
international movement.

-Voluntary vs Forced Migration:

Continuum might contain:
 migration of “free will”, who choose to migrate to satisfy largely non-economic life-choice ambitions
 migrants who are encouraged or “pushed” to migrate by life circumstances, such as “economic
migrants” (unemployment etc.)
 migrants who are more or less compelled to migrate by circumstances which are largely beyond their
control (poverty, political chaos)
 people who are forced to migrate by others and who therefore have no control over their decision to
move

Temporary vs Permanent Migration:

Problem: the intention is quite different from the outcomes; different degrees of temporality; the desire to
return and the desire to stay  the “myth of return”. Notion of “being a migrant” becoming a permanent
state of mind: the true home doesn’t exist anymore. Transnational communities

Legal vs illegal migration:

Perception of migration as a “crisis” and “unwanted”, need for “migration control”. The legal terms show
the distinction strictly, but the reality is different.
Pressure to migrate  migration control, lack of possibilities.
Boundary between legality and illegality is easily crossed: regularization law, amnesty, legal migrants can
work illegally. Who define migrant as illegal? country of origin, destination, international organization.

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Migration – In search of definitions
In addition to general definitions of migration and immigrants, such as those found in dictionaries, there
are various detailed definitions of key terms related to migration, including in the legal, administrative,
research and statistical areas

Mobility changes are result of:

-Economic changes

-Social Changes

-Political changes

-Technological changes

-Environmental changes

Characteristics of Modern Migration:

1) Extensive spread (globalization of Migration):

The globalization of the economy and continually changing poles of economic activity have brought in
their wake dynamic flows of people into new centres of development, but also the collapse of
traditional economic systems (agriculture, crafts, trade) thus forcing further migrations. Migration
flows are not an isolated process  migrants follow the same paths as capital and goods.
Migration has become business, big business. Over the last few decades, a lot 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 organized criminal networks profiting from human smuggling and trafficking, we are
currently witnessing a growing commercialization of international migration

2) Intensification of the migration movement:

Scale of international migration. Some 281 million international migrants are living in the world in 2020
(Raport from 2021). 3.4% of the world’s population (in the 19th century 10% of the world’s population)
More than 740 million are internal migrants? Since 1990, the number of international migrants in the
global North increased by around 53 million (65%), while the migrant population in the global South
grew by around 24 million (34%). About six out of every ten international migrants reside in the
developed regions.

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3) Shifts in migration destinations:

4) Differentiation of migration:
Changes in: migration motives, the socio-professional structure, the ethno-racial structures,
feminisation of migration

5) Politicization:
The issue of migration is a key subject of interest to politicians and decision-makers. The creation of
policy becomes an element in political rivalry and conflict.
Politicization is the result of the conviction on the part of politicians and the public that migration
has critically important consequences for the security and development of the international
community.
 In recent decades migration is no longer possible to control only by the internal legislation of
individual countries and it has become subject to numerous regulatory measures on a
transnational scale, including by the United Nations and European Union.

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 National policies, bilateral agreements and regional relations are increasingly being modified
under the influence of migration (e.g. Turkey-EU relations)