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Reshaping the Intersection Between Development and Migration Studies

Oliver Bakewell

International Migration2026https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.70149article
ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This essay argues that our understanding of the relationship between development and migration is distorted by a focus on areas of greatest policy concern. It calls for more research into broader processes of mobility, which may be of little interest to policy but play a critical role in the lives of poor people. It develops the argument in three points. First, in the last 20 years there has been a marked shift from interest in how migration may contribute to development towards a concern with how development may help deal with the challenges of migration. Second, this discussion assumes that only orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration can make a positive contribution to development, rendering important forms of mobility as problematic and antithetical to development. Third, the analysis of migration and mobility remains too much of a niche subject within development studies, being mainly the domain of migration scholars exploring the ‘migration‐development nexus’. As a result, there is still limited understanding of the complex interlinkages between migration—especially the important but often unseen migration—and development.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.70149

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@article{oliver2026,
  title        = {{Reshaping the Intersection Between Development and Migration Studies}},
  author       = {Oliver Bakewell},
  journal      = {International Migration},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.70149},
}

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Reshaping the Intersection Between Development and Migration Studies

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.