The Dynamics of Migration - Cluster Overview
The complex relationship between migration and social transformation is investigated by re-thinking the migration process itself. Research in this area looks at the practices, relationships, institutions and networks that shape experiences of life on the move. While taking account of the outcomes of migration, the prime focus of work within the cluster is on the migration trajectory, including decision-making, preparation, organisation, movement and arrival. Research concentrates on movements to and within Europe, but set within broader global trends, and aims to:
• analyse the relationship between migration processes and social, economic and political change, particularly in the context of global, regional, national and local disparities in human development and security.
• understand how migration dynamics play out at different levels, from individuals and households to regions and states as well as how these levels inter-connect with one another in different settings and locations
Social, economic and political change often influences migration decisions, directly or indirectly. The current economic downturn hitting most, if not all developed economies, for instance, may well affect decisions to move, as well as routes taken and the reception that migrants receive during their journey. By using an inter-disciplinary focus and employing innovative methodologies, COMPAS contributes new academic knowledge to a complex field and also provides fresh evidence to policy makers. Engagement with stakeholders at national and international levels is particularly important in this area and collaboration with international organisations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme, national governments and other research institutions, including the Refugee Studies Centre and the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford.
Core strands of work include:
Migration transition: Research explores how changes in migration patterns influence broader changes in society, and how social transformation and policy changes induce shifts in migration patterns. In particular we investigate these changing patterns at different levels – global, regional, national and local – and the interconnecting linkages between them. Work focuses on the significance of migration categories, such as economic migration, refugee/asylum migration, illegal migration, and changes in migration orders and systems over time.
Changing dynamics of diaspora and transnationalism: Cluster research looks at how the diaspora and transnational networks that have embedded themselves in the global political economy in recent years shape new migration patterns. The diasporas that have developed from asylum, labour and other migration (known in aggregate as ‘mixed migration’), which have diversified and expanded in the last two decades, will be increasingly important players in world affairs – economically, politically, socially and culturally. Transfers sent by members of such diasporas have become an integral part of the global political economy. Work within this theme explores how diasporas’ pervasive transnational relations are shaping patterns of global mobility.