The Social Implications of Population Displacement and Resettlement: An Overview with a Focus on the Arab Middle East

Abstract

"Recent decades have witnessed a global increase in the collective displacement of populations as a result of natural disasters, wars and development projects. The social implications of displacement, and its corollary process of resettlement, are explored in this article, with a focus on the Arab world....[The author suggests that] an approach which emphasizes the relation between the causes and consequences of displacement, examines cases in their historical contexts, and selects the appropriate unit of analysis is essential in developing an adequate framework of analysis."

Population Displacement and Household Coping Strategies in Sudan: The View from Greater Khartoum

“…It illustrates the large degree of overlap between the different migration motives. In the present case, displacement has led to labor migration as an adaptive strategy ($ Shami, 1990). While the degree of volition of the nuziheen in their emigration from the homeland was limited, their choice of Greater Khartoum as a destination involved a large degree of free willgiven that Greater Khartoum is the hub of services and employment opportunities for the whole country.…”

“…They identify three categories of causation for famine: i) long-tenn (structural) factors which render a large number of people poor and vulnerable; key amongthese are lack of economic development or alternative means of subsistence, and long-term environmental degradation; ii) immediate precipitatingfactors such as droughts, epidemics, wars, and floods which instigate a series of effects, such as failure/destruction of crops, escalation of food prices, and breakdown of services; and iii) relief failure, which usually results from the inability of governments and aid agencies to deliver relief expeditiously to the affected people. The first two categories correspond, respectively, to the "causes" and "agents" of displacement in the conceptual framework suggested by Shami (1990).…”

The Short-Term Impact of Involuntary Migration in China’s Three Gorges: A Prospective Study

“…Because no dominant paradigm exists for this type of studies in social sciences, we took an inductive approach to cull indicators of impact used in past research on developmental projects. Our literature review covers academic literature directly related to projects in China (Dai 1998;Duan and Steil 2003;Feng 2006;Gleick 2009;Hwang et al 2007;Jim and Yang 2006;Jing 1997;Li and Rees 2000;Li et al 2001;Podovani 2006;Qi 1998;Steil and Duan 2002;Xi and Feng 2001;Xi et al 2007;Yue 2007;Zhu 1996) 3 and in other countries (Cernea 1997;Fernea and Kennedy 1966;Kennedy 1978;Robinson 2003;Scudder and Colson 1982;Shami 1993;World Bank 1994).…”

Migration Patterns During a Period of Political and Economic Shocks in the Former Soviet Union: A Case Study of Yaroslavl' Oblast*

“…In the particular context of the disintegration of the FSU, we question the relevancy of previous work on forced refugee flows and international return migration, particularly repatriation. Most of this literature explains refugee flows during times of violent revolution or temporary labor migrations related to refugee flows (e.g., Pessar 1988;Marmora 1988;Koehn 1991;Shami 1993). Literature on repatriation often deals with decolonization where the origin country was not contiguous to the receiving country (e.g., Smith 1981) or with a situation of returning exiles (e.g., Pessar 1988).…”