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Stimulating a transatlantic, South-North, and South-South debate on migration and development among policy makers, academics and civil society.

Migrants who worked in agriculture in California have introduced new techniques to farms in Zacatecas, Mexico © Oliver Bakewell
Migrants who worked in agriculture in California have introduced new techniques to farms in Zacatecas, Mexico

The Transatlantic Dialogues project revolved around three main questions:

  • How has migration affected development in migrant-sending areas?
  • How can we explain differences in migration impacts across regions and countries?
  • What can be learned from these experiences to formulate better policies and an agenda for future comparative research?

These questions were addressed through formal research and integrated with two study tours in migrant-sending areas in Zacatecas, Mexico (March 2009), and Ouarzazate, Morocco (March 2010). The field visits and interviews with migrants enabled participants to observe migrants' investments as well as the wider socioeconomic, demographic, and political impacts of migration.

The confrontation with these realities in the field exposed participants to the diversity of such impacts. This sparked discussions on the conditions that explain such diversity, and on how policies can contribute to increasing the positive development impacts of migration.

Research team

  • Hein de Haas
    Hein de Haas

    Professor of Sociology, University of Amsterdam

  • Simona Vezzoli
    Simona Vezzoli

    Research Officer, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) Centre for Governance of Migration and Diversity (GMD), based at the Institute of History, Leiden University.

Study tours

Mexico

16–20 March 2009, Zacatecas

Morocco

21–26 March 2010, Ouarzazate

Collaboration and funding

Related research themes