Abstract
The chapter looks at migration systems understood as patterns of sustained movement between two or more places. It shows how systems analysis can help to address critical questions: why does migration emerge between destinations, why does it continue, and how does the migration of yesterday affect the ways people move today? It shows how scholarship on general social systems has been used to define migration systems. It then provides an overview of two strands of literature that build on these foundations: first, micro-/meso-level empirical research focusing on the operation of feedback (migration at one point affecting subsequent movement); second, research analyzing macro-level migration data to explore emerging migration systems and their mechanics. The chapter concludes by summarizing the contribution of migration systems to the analysis of changing patterns of migration and its potential to bring the somewhat isolated world of migration studies into closer connection to broader sociological theory.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration |
| Editors | Giuseppe Sciortino, Martina Cvajner, Peter J. Kivisto |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar |
| Chapter | 7 |
| Pages | 86-95 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |