Global Human Migration

Few other topics elicit such strong opinions and sensationalist headlines as international migration.

Given that only about 4 percent of the world’s population leaves their countries of origin, migration is often an outsized target of national policies and media. The entries in this volume provide a foundation to understand why that is so. Migration scholars examine the fundamental causes of modern migration, incorporating ideas and terms that help the reader understand types of migration that occur both within and between countries. It incorporates discussions of how these terms are reflected in different contexts throughout the world and help to flesh out ideas that influence the decision, or necessity, to migrate. The authors examine how these decisions to migrate affect, and are affected by, international events, borders, and political discussions. Consequently, the outcomes of these decisions can change countries’ populations and cultures.

This book provides a social science perspective on peoples’ movements and is accessible for both those new to the migration topic as well as those who are familiar with current debates and trends. Long-form entries highlight current and future global trends in international mobility, such as climate change and migration, children and migration, acquisition of citizenship, and asylum policies. The third part of the volume delves into country profiles, providing expert analyses of the most important migration histories and patterns of peoples’ movement within and across borders. Some countries were chosen because of their importance in the contemporary landscape of the largest current exoduses in the world—Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria—while also paying attention to longer-term migration patterns that changed the cultural landscape of a region such as Brazil, Poland, and the United States.