Migration & Refugee Theories

economic theories

neoclassical, new economics, dual labor market

neoclassical theories

micro and macroeconomics

new economics theory

focus on household/family units, relative over absolute deprivation, migration reasons outside economic

dual labor market theory

segmented markets primary/secondary, employers maintain precarity with low wages, based on sociological aspects

network theory

role of social capital building migrant agency, kinship/family ties support

world systems theory

structure of global capitalist market, core/semi/periphery areas (wealth-concentrated vs rural), deracination and unequal incorporation of peoples via colonialism and globalization

critical perspectives

neo/marxist, world systems theory, dependency theory, feminist intl. pol. econ.

dependency theory

uneven development, underdevelopment in LA economies

feminist ipe

productive, reproductive, and virtual economies focused from individual/household to global

feminist theory

intersections of gender, race, class, etc., highlight complexity of agency and structure interactions

global labor market

labor market of economic processes, social processes, and state power structures

receiving state policies

open door, restrictionist (immigration control), exclusionist

national economic development theories (post-WWII, decolonization concerns)

modernization (cold war era), neoliberal, human/sustainable development, critical

cold war era modernization theory

classic american-style development model, 5 stages (agrarian society, advances to capital, industrializing, thriving, mass-consumption), influenced global policies

neoliberal theory

promotes free market, builds better economies but more poverty

human/sustainable development theory

healthcare, education, public safety needed to thrive, environmental preservation with production development

critical theory

global economy focus over individual, world system, dependency and uneven development, globalization/migration are inherent

migration-development nexus national development frame

state sees migration as function and key to development, means of gaining national capital, remittances as strategy, brain gain and upskilling

migration-development nexus human development frame

migrants get skills to escape poverty, countercyclical remittances reinforce precarity, poorer workers depended on for remittances, brain drain reinforces social hierarchy

migration-poverty nexus

flexibilization of labor, brain drain, adverse incorporation reinforces marginalization and poverty