International Migration Institute

The International Migration Institute was established in 2005 and funding from the School ended in 2015. The following page is an archived resource

The Project

We are investigating the way that human mobility is changing the face of global society. Our research aims to provide an understanding of who is migrating, where to, why, and what impacts these movements have on both receiving countries and societies left behind.

The movement of people has always played a central role in global processes of social, economic and political change. But, as international migration becomes more complex, it raises new intellectual and practical challenges for humanity in the twenty-first century.

We pioneer new theoretical and methodological approaches, working with researchers and policy-makers in the global South and North. Our aim is to advance understanding of the multilayered forces driving current and future migration processes.

Research Themes
  • African Migrations: aims to improve the understanding of migration patterns within, to and from Africa over time. We are establishing a hub that connects researchers across the continent. The Institute works with African researchers and universities to support research and to improve research capacity.
  • Migration and Development: researches the many facets of the migration–development nexus. The focus is on understanding the structural and policy factors that explain why migration has more positive development outcomes in some places, and more negative outcomes in others.
  • Migration and Environment: looks to improve understanding of the relationship between the environment and migration. Long-term climate change and its varied impacts on local environmental conditions are likely to affect global migration patterns, although their actual impacts are the subject of much debate.
  • Migration Futures: seeks to elaborate scenarios for the future of global migration, in which creative thinking about unexpected changes in the structural factors driving migration occupies a central place. The aim is to inform policy makers and researchers, who are currently ill-prepared for future global migration trends primarily because of a limited insight into he factors driving migration processes.
  • Migration Policies and Governance: looks to address key questions around the regulation of migration, such as how do migration policies interact with migration flows, trade, aid, taxation, security and welfare; and why do policy outcomes often fail to match stated policy objectives?
  • Rethinking Migration Theory: attempts to analyse the evolution of migration processes, integrating sending, transit and receiving contexts. This allows us to achieve a deeper understanding of past and present migration dynamics and their interaction with broader global transformation processes.
  • Transnationalism and Diasporas: focuses on the role of migrant and diaspora organisations in the development of origin countries; the evolution of transnational migrant organisations; and the impact of diasporas in shaping identities, clashing with other diasporic and local identities and connecting home and host societies.

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Gravity crop

The Gravity of High-Skilled Migration Policies

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Mobilitymakessense100by100

Mobility Makes States: Migration and Power in Africa

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201405 IMI Visa WP

The Effect of Visa Policies on International Migration Dynamics

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DEMIG compiling

Compiling and coding migration policies

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DEMIG flow

Uncovering international migration flow data

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201401 IMI Working Paper

Understanding the political success of the Golden Dawn in Greece

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Comparative Migration Studies

Are unequal societies more migratory?

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Migration Studies

Relaunching migration systems

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Journalofdevelopmentstudies

Drivers and dynamics of internal and international remittances

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Journalethnicmigrationstudies

Migration and Development on the South-North Frontier

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Migration

International Migration

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World Economic Forumicon

Creating the Future Economy- WEF Summer Davos 2012

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Migration And Economic Growth

Migration And Economic Growth

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Conceptualizing semi-legality in migration research

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Exploring migration in the Horn of Africa

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Forcedmigrationreview

Migration and revolution

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Population

Critical approaches to transit migration

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Anthology on Migrant Remittances and Development

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Kubal Book

Socio-Legal Integration

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Global migration futures

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Africa-based migration research

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Global megatrends in migration

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The future of migration in Europe

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Non-migrant, sedentary, immobile, or ‘left behind’?

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The role of internal and international relative deprivation in global migration

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On the Move: the Migration Imperative

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The Migration of Power and North-South Inequalities

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Exploring the Future of Migration

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Structure and Agency in Migration Theory

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Migration processes: A theoretical inquiry

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The environmental factor in migration dynamics – a review of African case studies

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Migration transitions: a theoretical and empirical inquiry into the developmental drivers of international migration

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Migration, Diasporas and Development: Some Critical Perspectives

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The Creolization Reader: Studies in Mixed Identities and Cultures

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South-South Migration and Human Development: Reflections on African Experiences

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Mobility and Human Development

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The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World

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The Myth of Invasion: The inconvenient realities of African migration to Europe

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Global Diasporas: An Introduction

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Migration and Development: A theoretical perspective

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Researching refugees: lessons from the past, current challenges and future directions

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Engaging diasporas: How governments and development agencies can support diaspora involvement in development of origin countries

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Ethnicity and Globalization: From Migrant Worker to Transnational Citizen

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Theories of Migration

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Cambridge survey of world migration