Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Migrants as social actors

How is the migration of an individual intertwined with the migratory movements of others? The role of agency of migrants is often missing from an analysis of migration systems. Such agency, in an interplay with other structural factors, helps to explain why, once started, migration processes tend to gain their own momentum. This conference theme challenges the determinism which pervades much of the earlier work on systems and incorporates a richer analysis of the agency of social actors in migration processes. We invited papers exploring the role of pioneer migrants, or how early migrants shape subsequent migrations, as well as papers highlighting the rich texture of various migration cultures.

Media

Examining migration dynamics conference – some reflections: An article by THEMIS team members Oliver Bakewell and Agnieszka Kubal

#THEMIS Conference 2013 – Review: Robert Westermann's review of the conference for Migration Systems

Portugal: Final conference of the THEMIS Project in Oxford THEMIS researcher Alina Esteves writes for the European Commission

Changing Contexts, Changing Actors: Accounting for Migration Dynamics

Ewa Morawska (University of Sussex)

Conceptualizing migrants as social actors in migration systems

Cindy Horst (Peace Research Institute Oslo)

Discussant

Ronald Skeldon (University of Sussex)

Selected publications

A matter of class? The dynamics of Brazilian migration to Europe

Cindy Horst (PRIO), Agnieszka Kubal (IMI), Sonia Pereira (IGOT-UL)

> Watch this presentation

Agency and migrants in the labour market: social actors or submissive players?

Sonia Pereira

> Watch this presentation

Migration decision making: aspirations and opportunities

Maria Lucinda Fonseca, Sueli Siqueira, Alina Esteves, Jennifer McGarrigle, Sónia Pereira

> Watch this presentation