Introduction

Abstract

In the literature on migration, it has been said that international and internal migration has been a fact of life throughout the ages. People move, individually and collectively, for a variety of reasons that could be economic, social or political, or a combination of all of these. Although some may argue that economic reasons are the dominant causes behind internal and international migration decisions, there is no question that social and political factors also play a crucial role. The chapters in this book demonstrate that the causes and consequences of migration are so complex that they are best understood in an interdisciplinary framework. They bear testimony to the fact that decisions to migrate are based on many different types of socio-economic and political factors. As Tim Hatton writes, ‘the economic forces underlying mass migration have often taken a back seat to social, cultural and even political aspects’.