International Migration Research Constructions, Omissions and the Promises of Interdisciplinarity

The centrality of international migration as a process articulating major transformations of contemporary societies offers an opportunity to make it the shared component of the theoretical and research agendas of the social science disciplines. In this volume a multidisciplinary team of authors presents a stocktaking account of current research on international migration in order to lay the ground for such an interdisciplinary collaboration. The first part of the book scrutinizes the theoretical concepts and interpretative frameworks that inform migration research and their impact on empirical studies in selected disciplines. The next two sections examine the epistemological premises underlying migration research in different fields of the social sciences and the challenges of 'informed translations' between these approaches. The final section considers the interdependency between the academic study of migration and the social and political contexts in which it is embedded. The book invites researchers to address the challenges raised by the empowerment of migration research, offering ways of communicating across different specializations and guiding readers towards a meaningful interdisciplinarity.

Contents: Introduction, Michael Bommes and Ewa Morawska. Theoretical Concepts And Interpretations In Migration Research: Migration and population in German historical thought: some critical reflections, Josef Ehmer; Integration nations: the Nation-State and research on immigrants in Western Europe, Adrian Favell; The anthropology of transnational communities and the reframing of immigration research in California: the Mixtec case, Michael Kearney; Gender and migration research, Leslie Page Moch. Migration Research In Different Disciplines: Political science and comparative immigration politics, Gary P. Freeman; World society and migrations: challenges to theoretical concepts of political sociology, Jost Halfmann. Issues And Dilemmas Of Interdisciplinarity: Law and politics and migration research: on the potential and limits of interdisciplinarity, Roland Bank and Dirk Lehmkuhl; Interdisciplinarity in migration research: on the relation between sociology and linguistics, Michael Bommes and Utz Maas; The sociology and history of immigration: reflections of a practitioner, Ewa Morawska. Interdependence Of Migration Research And Its Sociopolitical Contexts: National frames in migration research: the tacit political agenda, Sandra Lavenex; Migration research and European integration: the construction and institutionalization of problems of Europe, Andrew Geddes; Conclusion, Michael Bommes and Ewa Morawska; Index.

Michael Bommes is Professor at the University of Osnabrück in Germany. Ewa Morawska is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.