Getting On, Getting Up and Getting Out? Broadening Perspectives on Rural Youth Migration

Return to the countryside: The return intentions of highly educated young people in the Akmola province of northern Kazakhstan

“…As pointed out by Du (), migrants remain more attached to their place of origin than to the destination, even educated young adults. Graduate returnees are a source of great potential for rural areas, as they typically return with new skills and insights (Gibson & Argent, ). Nevertheless, most of the research on migration that looks at the young generation in rural areas has focused on their motivations to emigrate.…”

Is Out of Sight out of Mind? Place Attachment among Rural Youth Out‐Migrants

“…R esearch on rural youth and place attachment has made critical contributions to our understanding of young people's mobility, their out-migration from or reasons for staying in rural communities. Some of the most covered topics within rural youth research have been the influence of education and social class in migration decision-making processes (Jamieson 2000;N ı Laoire 2000;Andersen 2017), the demographic, social and economic causes and impacts of migration -for the migrants leaving as well as for the communities that are left behind (Stockdale 2004;Argent and Walmsley 2008;Gibson and Argent 2008), the importance of prior migration by family members (Johnson 1990;Stockdale 2002), life-course perspectives on migration (Niedomysl 2010;Aner and Hansen 2014;Stockdale and Catney 2014) and how more women than men tend to leave rural communities (Båtevik 2001;Bjarnason and Thorlindsson 2006;Faber et al 2015). Several studies have demonstrated significant power imbalances between rural and urban (Vanderbeck and Dunkley 2003;Jensen 2012;Farrugia 2016), and exposed how rural-to-urban migration represents not only a geographical mobility, but also a social mobility, where migration is a way to move forwards and pursue a career (Green 1999;N ı Laoire 2000;Corbett 2007;Argent and Walmsley 2008;Beck et al 2009;Trell et al 2012;Nugin 2014;Bloksgaard et al 2015).…”

“…Research on rural youth and place attachment has made critical contributions to our understanding of young people's mobility, their out‐migration from or reasons for staying in rural communities. Some of the most covered topics within rural youth research have been the influence of education and social class in migration decision‐making processes (Jamieson ; Ní Laoire ; Andersen ), the demographic, social and economic causes and impacts of migration – for the migrants leaving as well as for the communities that are left behind (Stockdale ; Argent and Walmsley ; Gibson and Argent ), the importance of prior migration by family members (Johnson ; Stockdale ), life‐course perspectives on migration (Niedomysl ; Aner and Hansen ; Stockdale and Catney ) and how more women than men tend to leave rural communities (Båtevik ; Bjarnason and Thorlindsson ; Faber et al . ).…”

Introduction to a virtual issue on the geographies of migration

“…By meshing demographic with cultural approaches, that collection of papers combines statistical analyses of migration trends with more interpretive accounts of rural community change that give weight to ‘how people imagine themselves, how they see their identities as belonging or being constrained in particular places, or as capable of transformation through moving to other places’ ( Gibson & Argent, , p.137 ). The complex motivations behind youth mobilities can be glimpsed in Argent and Walmsley's () contribution to the 2008 special issue.…”

“…Running parallel to the arguments put forward by Argent et al (2007) and Costello (2007) but focused primarily on out-migration from rural areas instead, a special issue entitled 'Getting on, getting up and getting out? Broadening perspectives on rural youth migration' edited by Gibson and Argent (2008) further advances the visibility of Geographical Research as an outlet for work on the complex relationship between migration and rural development in Australia. Comprising five research papers and an introduction, the special issue usefully highlights the importance of 'collaboration and cross-fertilisation amongst rural, cultural and population geographers in the study of cultures of rural youth migration' (Gibson & Argent, 2008, p.137).…”