FORCED AND VOLUNTARY MIGRATION

Why do people migrate?

Types of Migration

Forced Migration: involves the imposition of authority or power

Voluntary Migration: occurs after a migrant weighs options and choices (even desperate ones) The distinction is not always clear Example: Irish Potato Famine

Power Struggles

Migration at an individual level is complexWho makes the decisions in the household?In many regions, men migrate more than

women, and men migrate further than women It is possible that not all members of the household

want to migrate In many Mexican households, men are sent out to find

work away from home In households where there is not a strong male

presence, women are sent out to find work

Forced Migration

The largest forced migration in history was the Atlantic slave trade, which carried tens of millions of Africans to South America, North America, and the Caribbean Exact numbers are not known, but estimates range

from twelve to thirty million

Most slaves were transported to South America and the Caribbean North American slaves were very expensive (roughly

$35,000 in today’s money), and were treated more humanely

The Atlantic Slave Trade

Atlantic Slave Trade

The slave trade began in the sixteenth century in the Caribbean It gradually expanded northwards through North

America

The slaves performed plantation agriculture Plantation Agriculture: producing one or a couple

of cash crops, mainly for export

Slaves were mainly exported from the western coast of Africa, due to physical and cultural geography

Other examples of forced migration

British convicts exported to Australia from 1788-1830s

US government moving Native Americans to reservations in the 1800s

Russia moving non-Russians to Central Asia and Siberia from 1920-1953

Germans moving many groups of people to ghettos and concentration camps in the 1930s

Countermigration is a form of forced migration US sending back the Haitians in the 1990s

Why do people choose to migrate?

Studies of voluntary migration indicates three reasons why people migrate where they do: Similarity between new location and homeland Ease of travel back to homeland Physical distance

Push and Pull Factors

When a person, family, or group of people makes a voluntary decision to migrate, push and pull factors come into play Push Factors: the conditions and perceptions that

help a migrant decide to leave a place Pull Factors: the circumstances that effectively

attract the migrant to certain locales from other places

The decision to migrate is a combination of push and pull factors

Push Factors

Typically more accurate than pull factorsInclude individual considerations such as:

Work or retirement conditions Cost of living Personal safety and security Environmental catastrophies

Pull Factors

Pull factors can be based solely on perception

The closer one migrates, the more accurate the perception

Distance Decay: the intensity of human activity, process, or function declines as distance from the source increases

Other types of migration

Step Migration: occurs when migration happens in stages Example: a farmer moving to a village, then a town,

then a city, and finally a metropolis

Not everyone that sets out for the “big city” makes it there

Some get sidetracked by intervening opportunities An opportunity that presents itself in such a way that

is a barrier to migration

Types of Push and Pull Factors

Economic Conditions

Economic opportunities are the number one reason why people migrate

Perceived opportunities cause millions to flee to Western Europe and North America When the economy is in a recession, immigration

decreases, both legal and illegal

Political Circumstances

Migrations are driven by escape and expulsion

Vietnamese immigrants that fled Vietnam following the Vietnam War are known as “boat people”

Armed Conflict and Civil War

Examples include the breakup of Yugoslavia (Balkanization) and the genocide in Rwanda

Environmental Conditions

The Irish Potato famine was a result of disastrous environmental conditions

Emigration occurs in California following every major earthquake

Culture and Traditions

People who fear their culture and traditions will not survive a major political transition often migrate Millions of Muslim Indians fled India to Pakistan Many white citizens of South Africa fled to Great

Britain, Australia, and North America after the end of Apartheid

Technological Advances

People can learn about new places, search for job opportunities, and even purchase real estate via the Internet

Kinship links also strengthen the pull factor to a new place Ethnic neighborhoods

When migrants move through kinship links, this is called chain migration Chain migration can create immigration waves, or

swells in immigration from one origin to the same destination