Relaunching migration systems

Abstract

The concept of the migration system, first popularised in the 1970s, has remained a staple component of any review of migration theory. Since then, it has been cast somewhat adrift from its conceptual moorings; today in the literature migration systems are generally either conflated with migrant networks or elevated to the heights of macro-level abstraction which divorces them from any empirical basis. At the same time, by taking on board more sophisticated notions of agency, emergence, and social mechanisms, the broader concept of the social system has moved on from the rather discredited structural-functionalist marina where it was first launched. In recent years, having been rejected by many social theorists, the social system has been subject to major reconstruction prior to its re-launch as a respectable and valuable area of social enquiry. This paper argues that, for the most part, these developments in systems theory have been ignored by those applying the concept of systems to the analysis of migration. It addresses the question of how the concept of the migration system can be reformulated in the light of these theoretical advances and what implications this may have for our research and analysis. Non-technical summaryIn recent years debates about the idea of the 'social system' have been reinvigorated by accounts drawing on notions of agency, emergence, and social mechanisms. This paper argues that these developments in systems theory have largely been ignored by those applying the concept of systems to the analysis of migration. The paper addresses the question of how the concept of the migration system can be reformulated in the light of these theoretical advances and what implications this may have for our research and analysis.

¿País de emigración, inmigración, tránsito y retorno? La formación de un sistema de migración colombiano

“…eL concePto de sIstemA de mIgRAcIón Bakewell (2013), en su artículo "Relaunching Migration Systems", propone un marco de estudio para los procesos migratorios internacionales, partiendo de una revisión de la literatura existente sobre sistemas sociales. Un sistema es entendido como un conjunto de elementos que interactúan entre sí de una forma más o menos armónica, generando resultados -outputs-concretos (Bakewell, 2010).…”

“…En esta dinámica se han destacado los aportes de Massey et al (1999), Arango (2000) Wimmer y Glick-Schiller (2003), Castles et al (2013), entre otros. Dentro de los enfoques multidisciplinares, el aporte de Oliver Bakewell (2013) ha cobrado cierta relevancia recientemente. Este autor ha relanzado y actualizado el concepto de sistema de migración, que había desaparecido del medio académico desde hacía varias décadas 1 .…”

“…Este autor ha relanzado y actualizado el concepto de sistema de migración, que había desaparecido del medio académico desde hacía varias décadas 1 . En su aporte logra sintetizar un modelo teórico que sirve, no solo 1 La idea del enfoques sistémico surgió hacia la década de 1960 con los aportes de Arrighi y Saul, Gutkind y Richards (Bakewell, 2013). Este dejó de ser del interés del mainstream académico ante la postulación de la teoría de redes y otras hipótesis afines.…”

“…A partir de la teoría de los sistemas de migración formulada por Oliver Bakewell (2010Bakewell ( , 2013, el artículo argumenta la existencia de un sistema de migración colombiano. Este se estructura con base en la configuración histórica de tres elementos: a) flujos, de personas, ideas y bienes; b) instituciones, en el sentido de discursos y prác-ticas asociadas; y (c) estrategias, que responden tanto a dinámicas normativas como derivadas del entorno en el que se gesta el fenómeno migratorio contemporáneo.…”

Leadership in Migration Systems: The Case of Israel

“…The concept of a migration system still has no established definition, though the system approach has been accepted for decades in migration research [1]. The model of migration system comprised of a donor subsystem and a recipient subsystem interconnected by the migrant subsystem was argued to be the most suitable method for studying migrations as early as the beginning of the 1960s [2].…”