The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by weaving together diverse strands of arguments related to international migration in ways not attempted before. Throughout the chapters, the book brings together original and cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a rather global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Migration has become business, big business. Over the last few decades a host 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 the organized criminal networks profiting from human smuggling and trafficking, we are currently witnessing a growing commercialization of international migration. This volume claims that today it is almost impossible to speak of migration without also speaking of the migration industry. Yet, acknowledging the role the migration industry plays prompts a number of questions that have so far received only limited attention among scholars and policy makers. The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by bringing together cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Unlike many other trans-boundary policy areas, international migration lacks coherent global governance. There is no UN migration organization and states have signed relatively few multilateral treaties on migration. Instead sovereign states generally decide their own immigration policies. However, given the growing politicisation of migration and the recognition that states cannot always address migration in isolation from one another, a debate has emerged about what type of international institutions and cooperation are required to meet the challenges of international migration. Until now, though, that emerging debate on global migration governance has lacked a clear analytical understanding of what global migration governance actually is, the politics underlying it, and the basis on which we can make claims about what 'better' migration governance might look like. In order to address this gap, the book brings together a group of the world's leading experts on migration to consider the global governance of different aspects of migration. The chapters offer an accessible introduction to the global governance of low-skilled labour migration, high-skilled labour migration, irregular migration, lifestyle migration, international travel, refugees, internally displaced persons, human trafficking and smuggling, diaspora, remittances, and root causes. Each of the chapters explores the three same broad questions: What, institutionally, is the global governance of migration in that area? Why, politically, does that type of governance exist? How, normatively, can we ground claims about the type of global governance that should exist in that area? Collectively, the chapters enhance our understanding of the international politics of migration and set out a vision for international cooperation on migration.

This pivot considers the emergence and functioning of the migration industry and commercialization of migration pathways in Asia. Grounded in extensive fieldwork and building on empirical data gathered through interactions and interviews with brokers, agents and other facilitators of migration, it examines the increasing co-dependence on, entanglement of and overlap between migrants, industry and state. It considers how for low-skilled migrants, migration is often not even possible without the involvement of the industry. As the opportunity to migrate has opened up to an ever-widening group of potential migrants, receiving nations have fine-tuned their migration infrastructure and programs to facilitate the inflow (and timely outflow) of the migrants it deems desirable. The migration industry plays an active role as mediator between migrants’ desires and states' requirements. This pivot focuses on what unites sending and receiving sides of migration, going beyond presupposed established networks, and offering a clear conceptualization of the contemporary migration industry in Asia.

This book concentrates on the role of commercialized intermediary actors in migration. It seeks to understand how these actors shape migration and mobility patterns through the services they offer. In addressing the role that migration industries play in migration, the book uses diverse examples such as labour market brokers and recruitment agencies from Eastern Europe to the United Kingdom; Latvian migration to Norway; super-rich lifestyle brokers; international students agents; the Global Mobility Industry for corporate expatriates; skilled migrant intermediaries; and those providing services to West African migrants coming to Europe or Indonesians leaving for Malaysia. Through these examples, the contributors examine the actors in migration industries, showing how they respond to and shape migration trends. They also consider how migration industries operate, manoeuvre and interact with government policy on migration management. Finally, the book looks at how migration industries enable certain forms of migration through enticement, facilitation and control, translating into specific migration trajectories and im/mobility. Providing examples from across the world, this book analyses how charities, businesses, sub-contractors, informal recruitment agencies, and other actors help to shape migration processes, and it will be of interest to those studying not only the causes of migration, but also the migration process itself. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

This Very Short Introduction examines the phenomenon of international human migration - both legal and illegal. Taking a global look at politics, economics, and globalization, the author presents the human side of topics such as asylum and refugees, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, development, and the international labour force.

This book discusses African migration and the refugee crisis. Economic, political and social tension in the Middle East and in many parts of the Global South has induced historic mass migration across national and international borders. The situation is especially dire in Africa, where a sizable number of Africans have chosen or have been forced to leave their countries of origin for Europe and North America. Written by an international team of scholars, this edited book traces the refugee crisis around the world, telling the necessary story of forced migration, intentional exclusion, and human insecurity from an Afrocentric lens. The volume is divided into three sections. Section I places African migration within the broader contexts of international history, law, economics, and policy. Section II discusses cases of African migration to Europe, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. Section III considers negative consequences of mass African migration, including the restriction and criminalization of migration, post-traumatic stress disorder, and gender-based violence. A compelling account of risk, resilience, and global power dynamics, this volume will be useful to students and researchers interested in African studies, migration, peace and conflict studies, and policy as well as professionals, practitioners, NGOs, IGOs, governmental and humanitarian organizations.

This insightful Research Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the core issues concerning the integration of migration and employment studies, highlighting the interdisciplinary and global perspectives required to understand the complexity of labour migration.

After a long time of neglect, migration has entered the arena of international politics with a force. The 2018 Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM) is the latest and most comprehensive framework for global migration governance. Despite these dynamics, migration is still predominantly framed as a state-centric policy issue that needs to be managed in a top-down manner. This book proposes a difference approach: A truly multi-stakeholder, multi-level and rights-based governance with meaningful participation of migrant civil society. Drawing on 15 years of participant observation on all levels of migration governance, the book maps out the relevant actors, “invited” and “invented” spaces for participation as well as alternative discourses and framing strategies by migrant civil society. It thus provides a comprehensive and timely overview on global migration governance from below, starting with the first UN High Level Dialogue in 2006, evolving around the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and leading up to the consultations for the International Migration Review Forum in 2022.

This work examines the role played by the state and private sectors in organizing labour migration, and the economic and social issues raised by such migration policies and programmes. It explores the question of whether, and how, migrant workers should be controlled and regulated to safeguard the interests of the sending state without infringing the basic rights of the individual.