Crises and Migration

This book critically examines the association between the notions of crisis and migration in the context of Latin America, and from three different perspectives: first, it analyzes the discourses based on the concept of crisis employed by the media, academic researchers, civil society organizations and the state to frame human mobility issues; second, it investigates migrants’ agency under conditions of crisis; and third, it discusses whether “migration crisis” is a conjunctural or structural phenomenon in the region.

Chapters in this contributed volume investigate the crisis-migration nexus in seven Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay – by discussing different human mobility phenomena, such as the migrant caravans that departed from Central America bound to Mexico and the United States; the Nicaraguan exodus caused by the political crisis in the country; the perception of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia’s media;the presence of Caribbean migrants in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

Crisis and Migration: Critical Perspectives from Latin America will be of interest to a wide range of social scientists interested in migration studies, as well as to policy makers and civil society organizations. This book offers a fresh look at the way we conceive, represent, and think about the relationship between crisis and human mobility. As the volume’s contributions show, a critical examination of the notion of crisis is a first step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the plight of present-day migrants worldwide.