Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

ISBN-10:
069115631X
ISBN-13:
9780691156316
Pub. Date:
09/16/2012
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
ISBN-10:
069115631X
ISBN-13:
9780691156316
Pub. Date:
09/16/2012
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

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Overview

The past, present, and future role of global migration

Throughout history, migrants have fueled the engine of human progress. Their movement has sparked innovation, spread ideas, relieved poverty, and laid the foundations for a global economy. In a world more interconnected than ever before, the number of people with the means and motivation to migrate will only increase. Exceptional People provides a long-term and global perspective on the implications and policy options for societies the world over. Challenging the received wisdom that a dramatic growth in migration is undesirable, the book proposes new approaches for governance that will embrace this international mobility.

The authors explore the critical role of human migration since humans first departed Africa some fifty thousand years ago--how the circulation of ideas and technologies has benefited communities and how the movement of people across oceans and continents has fueled economies. They show that migrants in today's world connect markets, fill labor gaps, and enrich social diversity. Migration also allows individuals to escape destitution, human rights abuses, and repressive regimes. However, the authors indicate that most current migration policies are based on misconceptions and fears about migration's long-term contributions and social dynamics. Future policies, for good or ill, will dramatically determine whether societies can effectively reap migration's opportunities while managing the risks of the twenty-first century.

A guide to vigorous debate and action, Exceptional People charts the past and present of international migration and makes practical recommendations that will allow everyone to benefit from its unstoppable future growth.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691156316
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 09/16/2012
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 392
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ian Goldin is director of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, and professorial fellow at Balliol College, Oxford. He has served as vice president of the World Bank and advisor to President Nelson Mandela, and chief executive of the Development Bank of Southern Africa. His many books include Globalization for Development. Geoffrey Cameron is a research associate at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. He is currently principal researcher with the Bahá'í Community of Canada. Meera Balarajan holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and works for a research organization in the United Kingdom. She has also worked for the United Nations, a UK government department, and a grassroots NGO in India.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1





PART I : PAST

Chapter 1: Migration from Prehistory to Columbus 11

Early Migration 12

Connecting Humanity 18

Migration and Humanity 37





Chapter 2: Global Migrations: Toward a World Economy 39

The Age of Exploration 40

Imperialism and Coercion 45

Unfree Migrations: Slavery and Indentured Labor 47

Global "Free" Migrations (ca. 1840-1914) 57

Builders of the Modern World 67





Chapter 3: "Managed" Migration in the Twentieth Century (1914-1973) 69

The End of the Liberal Period 70

The Interwar Period: Economic Decline and Regulated Migration 77

Post-WWII Migrations 85

Finding Reasons to Regulate 92





PART II: PRESENT

Chapter 4: L eaving Home: Migration Decisions and Processes 97

Micro-Level: Individuals and Families 99

Meso-Level: Networks and Systems 103

Macro-Level: Demographic, Political, and Economic Conditions 109

Individual, Society, and National Influences 120





Chapter 5: I mmigration and Border Control 121

Channels and Flows of Migration 122

Economic Migration 127

Social Migration 140

Refugee Migration 147

Border Control 153

Beyond Border Controls 160





Chapter 6: T he Impacts of Migration 162

Impacts on Receiving Countries 164

Impacts on Sending Countries 178

Impacts on Migrants 193

Impacts on Societies and Migrants 209





PART III : FUTURE

Chapter 7: T he Future of Migration 213

The Backdrop of Globalization 215

Supply of Migrants 219

Demand for Migrants 241





Chapter 8: A Global Migration Agenda 259

Thought Experiments 261

A Long-Term Vision of Freer Movement 265

Principles for Global Migration 270

The Need for Global Leadership 281





Notes 287

References 331

Index 359


What People are Saying About This

Phelps

A sweeping and constructive study. With a deep sense of what sort of creatures we humans are, this book takes us through millennia in the unending quest of people for development and discovery. It suggests that population movements have been the carriers of innovation from one region to others. It will change, if anything can, the way governments and international organizations view immigration policy.
Edmund S. Phelps, Nobel Prize-winning economist

Paul Romer

In public discourse, migration may be the subject that minimizes the ratio of clarity to volume. Goldin and Cameron deserve high praise for joining this discussion with the quiet and clear yet firm voice that is the hallmark of economic analysis at its best.
Paul Romer, Stanford University

Michael Oppenheimer

In capturing the full sweep of immigration as a key part of human experience and development from the remote past to the distant future, Exceptional People strikes a perfect balance between sympathetic understanding of the basic motivations to migrate and hardheaded pragmatism with respect to government policy. The authors' narrative is insightful, clear-eyed, and deftly written, and will engage the attention of both experts and the interested lay audience.
Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University

Nicholas Stern

Migration is not a zero-sum game; it brings great benefits to the receiving country, the sending country, and to migrants themselves. That is the clear message of the evidence from history, economics, and the social sciences more generally. This wise book assembles that evidence in a very thoughtful, careful, and scholarly way, making an enormous contribution to this crucial subject and providing fundamental guidance on one of the key issues of our times.
Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics and Political Science

From the Publisher

"A sweeping and constructive study. With a deep sense of what sort of creatures we humans are, this book takes us through millennia in the unending quest of people for development and discovery. It suggests that population movements have been the carriers of innovation from one region to others. It will change, if anything can, the way governments and international organizations view immigration policy."—Edmund S. Phelps, Nobel Prize-winning economist

"Migration is not a zero-sum game; it brings great benefits to the receiving country, the sending country, and to migrants themselves. That is the clear message of the evidence from history, economics, and the social sciences more generally. This wise book assembles that evidence in a very thoughtful, careful, and scholarly way, making an enormous contribution to this crucial subject and providing fundamental guidance on one of the key issues of our times."—Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics and Political Science

"In capturing the full sweep of immigration as a key part of human experience and development from the remote past to the distant future, Exceptional People strikes a perfect balance between sympathetic understanding of the basic motivations to migrate and hardheaded pragmatism with respect to government policy. The authors' narrative is insightful, clear-eyed, and deftly written, and will engage the attention of both experts and the interested lay audience."—Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University

"The fear of the outsider is a pervasive feature of Western culture. Yet, as the authors show so powerfully, we all owe our origins to historical migrations. Migrants are indeed exceptional people who enrich our societies and boost our economies by challenging conventional ways of doing things. This book reveals that migration is an essential part of human development and that we lose a great deal through widespread perceptions of migration as a problem. The global migration agenda proposed in this highly readable book shows how potential downsides could be reduced and enormous benefits realized."—Stephen Castles, coauthor of The Age of Migration

"In public discourse, migration may be the subject that minimizes the ratio of clarity to volume. The authors deserve high praise for joining this discussion with the quiet and clear yet firm voice that is the hallmark of economic analysis at its best."—Paul Romer, Stanford University

"This clear and lively book is the most skillful articulation of the case for the liberalization of international migration. The authors consistently present migration's benefits, but do not ignore migration's costs or shy away from controversy. It makes an important argument on an important subject, and deserves to be widely read."—Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Institute

Kathleen Newland

This clear and lively book is the most skillful articulation of the case for the liberalization of international migration. The authors consistently present migration's benefits, but do not ignore migration's costs or shy away from controversy. It makes an important argument on an important subject, and deserves to be widely read.
Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Institute

Stephen Castles

The fear of the outsider is a pervasive feature of Western culture. Yet, as Goldin and Cameron show so powerfully, we all owe our origins to historical migrations. Migrants are indeed exceptional people who enrich our societies and boost our economies by challenging conventional ways of doing things. This book reveals that migration is an essential part of human development and that we lose a great deal through widespread perceptions of migration as a problem. The global migration agenda proposed in this highly readable book shows how potential downsides could be reduced and enormous benefits realized.
Stephen Castles, coauthor of "The Age of Migration"

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