On the Theory and Practice of Migration and Development: A Southern Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article is centred on an analysis of the relationship between migration and development. It offers a critical overview of this increasingly important field of study, which is gaining growing interest in the political sphere. A focal point of the analysis refers to a position developed by Stephen Castles and I in opposition to the mainstream discourse: what we conceptualise as the Southern Perspective. This perspective envisages the nexus between migration and development as a dialectical and contextualised relationship, that takes into consideration the main characteristics and challenges faced by human mobility under contemporary capitalism. Special emphasis is given to the need to broaden the notion of forced migration and to develop strategic indicators for demystifying the dominant narrative regarding migration and development. An important complementary part of the analysis concerns the theory and practice in the field, which are closely related and mutually reinforced spheres, where both Stephen Castles and I have been involved. In this regard, the participation of civil society in the incipient and fragile process of the global governance of migration is briefly analysed through the lens of two different and contrasting spaces: The Global Forum on Migration and Development and the World Social Forum on Migration.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration and development
• southern perspective
• forced migration
• global governance of migration
• participation of civil society

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Raúl Delgado Wise author/editor of 28 books and more than 200 book chapters and refereed articles. He serves as a guest lecturer in over 40 countries. He is president and founder of the International Network on Migration and Development, co-Director of the Critical Development Studies Network, and professor and director of the Doctoral Program in Development Studies at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. He is the editor of the journal Migración y Desarrollo. He is also UNESCO Chair on Migration, Development and Human Rights.

Notes

1. UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development (UN-HLD) and the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

2. http://www.migrationanddevelopment.org

3. This calculation is based on expenses per educational level as reported in Informe sobre el panorama educativo de México 2008, issued by the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE), and data from the Current Population Survey, 1994–2008.

4. This calculation is based on expenses per educational level as reported by the National Center for Education, U.S. Department of Education 2007, and combined with data from the Current Population Survey, 1994–2008.

5. https://gfmd.org/.

6. http://www.un.org/en/sections/resources-different-audiences/business/.

7. http://peoplesglobalaction.org/.

8. King Baudouin Foundation in Brussels; Ayala Foundation in the Philippines; Onassis Foundation in Athens; and the Bancomer Foundation in Mexico.

9. In reference to ‘ … an assemblage of elite policy-planning organizations, transnational corporations, and global-governance organizations that has promoted, and to some extent consolidated, a hegemonic project of neoliberal globalization’. (Carroll 2007: 36).

10. http://apmigration.ilo.org/events/world-social-Forum-on-migrations.

11. https://fsm2016.org/en/en-route-vers-le-forum-social-mondial-2018/.