Trends in International Population Movements

June 10, 2010 – 10:34 am

I am reading through The Age of Migration by Stephen Castles & Mark J. Miller. This book was recently updated and printed in its fourth edition. I would highly recommend it if you are interested in missions, demographics and population movements.

The authors outline some general trends (pp.10-12) which I will share here to whet your appetite and stimulate your thinking.

1. The Globalization of Migration: migration is taking place, simply to more places from more places than ever before.

2. The Acceleration of Migration: migration is growing worldwide, but its growth is not necessarily unstoppable.

3. The Differentiation of Migration: migration occurred in the past mainly for work and opportunity. Today it occurs for many more and more complex reasons.

4. The Feminization of Migration: whereas in the past, migration tended to be male dominated, with families following; now females are migrating for more than just familial reasons.

5. The Growing Politicalization of Migration: Migration is a political issue in most countries because of security issues and the need for international cooperation.

6. The Proliferation of Migration Transition: Many countries are transitioning from being sending to recieving lands in population movements. This causes a number of issues for each country.

We will share more observations as the reading continues!

- PLJ