Time to Mainstream the Environment into Migration Theory?

Abstract

As with all social processes, human migration is a dynamic process that requires regular theoretical reflection. This article offers such reflection as related to the role of the natural environment in contemporary migration research and theory. A growing body of evidence suggests that environmental contexts, as shifting social and ecological realities, are consequential to migration theory. In this article, we review some of this evidence, providing migration research examples that integrate environmental context and are applicable to core migration theories, including neoclassical economic and migration systems perspectives, the “push-pull” framework, and the new economics of labor migration. We suggest that neglecting consideration of the natural environment may yield misspecified migration models that attribute migration too heavily to social and economic factors, particularly in the context of contemporary climate change. On the other hand, we suggest, failure to consider migration theory in climate scenarios may lead to simplistic projections and understandings, as in the case of “climate refugees.” We conclude that migration researchers have an obligation to accurately reflect the complexity of migration's drivers, including the environment, within migration scholarship, especially in the context of global climate change.