Abstract:There is historical evidence indicating migration has been a traditional response of Sahrawi societies to the changing challenges of environmental conditions, especially the climatic shift and severe periods of droughts. The disintegration of traditional society, together with modernization, the introduction of agriculture, and sedentarization, the process of urbanization and the implementation of new strict political borders that fractured the once open space they used to move within, modified dramatically th… Show more
“…Countries in Africa figured in the largest number of studies (seven articles), followed by Pacific Islands (six articles), Central America and the Caribbean (six articles), Asia (five articles), and South America (two articles) (Table 2). Five articles (Dun 2011; Gila et al 2011; Radel et al 2010; Shen and Binns 2012; Shen and Gemenne 2011) reported empirical information on both a migrant source country and the destination country. Within all countries and regions, the most common study areas were environmentally marginal areas and/or low-income rural areas where residents depend closely on natural resources for subsistence.Fig.…”
This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of scholarly publications that report empirical findings from studies of environmentally-related international migration. There exists a small, but growing accumulation of empirical studies that consider environmentally-linked migration that spans international borders. These studies provide useful evidence for scholars and policymakers in understanding how environmental factors interact with political, economic and social factors to influence migration behavior and outcomes that are specific to international movements of people, in highlighting promising future research directions, and in raising important considerations for international policymaking. Our review identifies countries of migrant origin and destination that have so far been the subject of empirical research, the environmental factors believed to have influenced these migrations, the interactions of environmental and non-environmental factors as well as the role of context in influencing migration behavior, and the types of methods used by researchers. In reporting our findings, we identify the strengths and challenges associated with the main empirical approaches, highlight significant gaps and future opportunities for empirical work, and contribute to advancing understanding of environmental influences on international migration more generally. Specifically, we propose an exploratory framework to take into account the role of context in shaping environmental migration across borders, including the dynamic and complex interactions between environmental and non-environmental factors at a range of scales.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11111-014-0210-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
“…Countries in Africa figured in the largest number of studies (seven articles), followed by Pacific Islands (six articles), Central America and the Caribbean (six articles), Asia (five articles), and South America (two articles) (Table 2). Five articles (Dun 2011; Gila et al 2011; Radel et al 2010; Shen and Binns 2012; Shen and Gemenne 2011) reported empirical information on both a migrant source country and the destination country. Within all countries and regions, the most common study areas were environmentally marginal areas and/or low-income rural areas where residents depend closely on natural resources for subsistence.Fig.…”
This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of scholarly publications that report empirical findings from studies of environmentally-related international migration. There exists a small, but growing accumulation of empirical studies that consider environmentally-linked migration that spans international borders. These studies provide useful evidence for scholars and policymakers in understanding how environmental factors interact with political, economic and social factors to influence migration behavior and outcomes that are specific to international movements of people, in highlighting promising future research directions, and in raising important considerations for international policymaking. Our review identifies countries of migrant origin and destination that have so far been the subject of empirical research, the environmental factors believed to have influenced these migrations, the interactions of environmental and non-environmental factors as well as the role of context in influencing migration behavior, and the types of methods used by researchers. In reporting our findings, we identify the strengths and challenges associated with the main empirical approaches, highlight significant gaps and future opportunities for empirical work, and contribute to advancing understanding of environmental influences on international migration more generally. Specifically, we propose an exploratory framework to take into account the role of context in shaping environmental migration across borders, including the dynamic and complex interactions between environmental and non-environmental factors at a range of scales.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11111-014-0210-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
“…In other cases, colonization and state formation brought efforts to sedentarize previously mobile groups that used migration as an adaptation to harsh environments. These efforts, as well as the closing or opening of political borders, have resulted in new patterns of movement in response to environmental change (Barrios et al 2006; Gila et al 2011; Marino 2012; Sporton et al 1999). …”
Section: Case Studies and Clusters Of Findings Emergementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Other research demonstrates the importance of social networks in a variety of African settings (Doevenspeck 2011; Gila et al 2011; Jónsson 2010; Sporton et al 1999) and in rural Cambodia (Bylander 2013). In the case of migration from the small island nation Tuvalu, keeping social groups intact is a key motivation in the face of dramatic decline in living conditions from sea level rise and natural disasters (Shen & Gemenne 2011).…”
Section: Case Studies and Clusters Of Findings Emergementioning
Research on the environmental dimensions of human migration has made important strides in recent years. However, findings have been spread across multiple disciplines with wide ranging methodologies and limited theoretical development. This article reviews key findings of the field and identifies future directions for sociological research. We contend that the field has moved beyond linear environmental “push” theories towards a greater integration of context, including micro-, meso-, and macro-level interactions. We highlight findings that migration is often a household strategy to diversify risk (NELM), interacting with household composition, individual characteristics, social networks, and historical, political and economic contexts. We highlight promising developments in the field, including the recognition that migration is a long-standing form of environmental adaptation and yet only one among many forms of adaptation. Finally, we argue that sociologists could contribute significantly to migration-environment inquiry through attention to issues of inequality, perceptions, and agency vis-à-vis structure.
“…Movement can take place for many reasons ranging from work and economic well-being [ 1 ] through conflict [ 37 ] to displacement caused by loss of livelihoods due to natural hazards (e.g. climate- and weather-related events [ 38 ] such as flooding [ 39 , 40 ], drought [ 41 , 42 ],[ 14 ] and heat stress [ 43 ]) at different temporal (e.g. daily to migration) and spatial scales (neighborhood, city-to-city, to international).…”
Capturing human movement patterns across political borders is difficult and this difficulty highlights the need to investigate alternative data streams. With the advent of smart phones and the ability to attach accurate coordinates to Twitter messages, users leave a geographic digital footprint of their movement when posting tweets. In this study we analyzed 10 months of geo-located tweets for Kenya and were able to capture movement of people at different temporal (daily to periodic) and spatial (local, national to international) scales. We were also able to capture both long and short distances travelled, highlighting regional connections and cross-border movement between Kenya and the surrounding countries. The findings from this study has broad implications for studying movement patterns and mapping inter/intra-region movement dynamics.
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