Pleading for a sociology of human mobility

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Ettore Recchi
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/3
Language Italian Pages 21 P. 9-29 File size 380 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2023-003001
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Migration studies focus on two distinct objects: on the one hand, the geograph-ic mobility of people; on the other, their incorporation in the receiving socie-ties. The latter is the prevailing focus, in academic and public debates as well as in empirical research of the last decades. My attention rather revolves around the first one, developing a sociology of human mobility. Analytically, the study of human mobility can take two different albeit converging perspec-tives – one centered on social actors, the other on regulation systems. In this article, I summarize research that I have carried out on the global regulation of transnational mobility, and particularly on visas and land borders. These find-ings offer new evidence on the North-South divisions of the planet, also re-vealing nuances in the distribution of the chances of transnational mobility and free movement across the world.

Keywords: human mobility; migration studies; sociological theory.

  1. Amelina A. e Faist T. (2013). De-naturalizing the national in research methodologies: Key concepts of transnational studies in migration. In: Amelina A., Faist T. e Nergiz D.D., eds., Methodologies on the Move: The Transnational Turn in Empirical Migration Research. London: Routledge.
  2. Aslany M., Carling J., Mjelva M.B. e Sommerfelt T. (2021). Systematic review of determinants of migration aspirations. Changes, 1, 18: 3911-3927; DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1929881
  3. Atkinson W. (2010). Phenomenological additions to the Bourdieusian toolbox: Two problems for Bourdieu, two solutions from Schutz. Sociological Theory, 28, 1: 1-19.
  4. Bauman Z. (2013). On being light and liquid. In: Elliott A., ed., The Contemporary Bauman (pp. 29-33). London: Routledge.
  5. Bauman Z. (1998). On glocalization: Or globalization for some, localization for some others. Thesis Eleven, 54, 1: 37-49.
  6. Bigo A. (2020). Les transports face au défi de la transition énergétique. Explorations entre passé et avenir, technologie et sobriété, accélération et ralentissement. Doctoral dissertation. Paris: Institut Polytechnique de Paris.
  7. Bloch N. e Adams K.M. (2023). Intersections of Tourism, Migration, and Exile. New York: Routledge.
  8. Brög W.K.H.G.B., Fallast K., Katteler H., Sammer G. e Schwertner B. (1985). Selected Results of a Standardized Survey Instrument for Large-Scale Travel Surveys in Several European Countries. Hanoi: VNU Science Press.
  9. Carling J. e Collins F. (2018). Aspiration, desire and drivers of migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44, 6: 909-926; DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2017.138413
  10. Cresswell T. (2006). On the Move. London: Taylor & Francis.
  11. Czaika M., de Haas H. e Villares‐Varela M. (2018). The global evolution of travel visa regimes. Population and Development Review, 44, 3: 589;
  12. Czaika M. e Vothknecht M. (2014). Migration and aspirations – are migrants trapped on a hedonic treadmill?. IZA Journal of migration, 3: 1-21; DOI: 10.1186/2193-9039-3-
  13. Dahinden J. (2016). A plea for the ‘de-migranticization’ of research on migration and integration. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39, 13: 2207-2225; DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2015.112412
  14. Delhey J., Deutschmann E., Verbalyte M. e Aplowski A. (2020). Netzwerk Europa: wie ein Kontinent durch Mobilität und Kommunikation zusammenwächst. New York: Springer.
  15. De Haas H., Castles S. e Miller M.J. (2019). The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. London: Bloomsbury.
  16. Deutschmann E. (2021). Mapping the Transnational World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  17. Deutschmann E. e Recchi E. (2022). Europeanization via Transnational Mobility and Migration. In: Büttner S., Eigmüller M. and Worschech S., eds., Sociology of Europeanization (pp. 283-306). Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg.
  18. Deutschmann E., Recchi E. e Vespe M. (2022). Assessing Transnational Human Mobility on a Global Scale. In: Pötzschke S. and Rinken S., eds., Migration Research in a Digitized World: Using Innovative Technology to Tackle Methodological Challenges (pp. 169-192). Cham: Springer/Imiscoe.
  19. Elliott A. e Urry J. (2010). Mobile Lives. London: Routledge.
  20. Favell A. (2022). The Integration Nation. Cambridge: Polity.
  21. Fermosel J.L.A. (1981). Jorge Luis Borges: ‘No estoy seguro de que yo exista en realidad’. El Pais, 26 September (consultato online, 20 Febbraio 2023; -- https://elpais.com/diario/1981/09/26/ultima/370303206_850215.html?outputType=amp).
  22. Friesch-Tersch E., Jones M., Böök B., de Keyser L. e Tugran T. (2020). 2019 Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility. Luxembourg: European Commission.
  23. Hobolt S. (2014). Researching mobility barriers: The European visa database. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 40, 3: 424-435; DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2013.83088
  24. Holden E., Gilpin G. e Banister D. (2019). Sustainable mobility at thirty. Sustainability, 11, 7: 1965;
  25. Janelle D.G. (1973). Measuring human extensibility in a shrinking world. Journal of Geography, 72, 5: 8-15; DOI: 10.1080/0022134730898130
  26. Lahire B. (2003). From the habitus to an individual heritage of dispositions. Towards a sociology at the level of the individual. Poetics, 31, 5-6: 329-355;
  27. Levitt P. e Jaworsky B.N. (2007). Transnational migration studies: Past developments and future trends. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 129;
  28. Mau S. (2010). Mobility citizenship, inequality, and the liberal state: The case of visa policies. International Political Sociology, 4, 4: 339-361;
  29. Mau S., Gülzau F., Laube L. e Zaun N. (2015). The global mobility divide: How visa policies have evolved over time. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41, 8: 1192-1213; DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2015.100500
  30. McLeod S. (2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology, 1: 1-18.
  31. McLuhan M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
  32. Migali S. e Scipioni M. (2018). A global analysis of intentions to migrate. JRC Technical Report 111207. Ispra: European Commission.
  33. Preston V. e McLafferty S. (2016). Revisiting gender, race, and commuting in New York. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106, 2: 300-310; -- https://www.jstor.org/stable/45388612
  34. Recchi E. (2015). Mobile Europe: The Theory and Practice of Free Movement in the EU. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  35. Recchi E. (2013). Senza frontiere. Bologna: il Mulino.
  36. Recchi E., Deutschmann E. e Vespe M. (2019a). Estimating transnational human mobility on a global scale. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper WP 30. Fiesole: European University Institute.
  37. Recchi E., Deutschmann E. e Vespe, M. (2019b). The Global Network of Transnational Mobility, N-IUSSP, October; https://www.niussp.org/migration-and-foreigners/the-global-network-of-transnational-mobilityle-reseau-mondial-de-mobilite-transnationale/
  38. Recchi E., Ferrara A., Rodriguez Sanchez A., Deutschmann E., Gabrielli L., Iacus S., Bastiani L., Spyratos S. e Vespe M. (2022). The impact of air travel on the precocity and severity of COVID-19 deaths in sub-national areas across 45 countries. Scientific Reports, 12, 1: 16522;
  39. Recchi E. e Flipo A. (2019). Spatial mobility in social theory. SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 10, 20: 125-137;
  40. Recchi E., Flipo A. e Duwez, E. (2021). “Ce monde que je connais”: les ‘space-sets’ des Français. In: Mercklé P. e Duwez E., a cura di, Un panel français: L’Étude longitudinale par Internet pour les sciences sociales (Elipss) (pp. 255-280). Paris: Ined.
  41. Recchi E. e Kuhn T. (2013). Europeans’ Space-Sets and the Political Legitimacy of the EU. In: Kauppi N., ed., A Political Sociology of Transnational Europe. 191-222. ECPR Press: Colchester.
  42. Recchi E. e Tittel K. (2023). The Empirical Study of Human Mobility: Potentials and Pitfalls of Using Traditional and Digital Data. In: Bertoni E., Fontana M., Gabrielli L., Signorelli S. e Vespe M., eds., Handbook of Computational Social Science for Policy (pp. 437-464). Cham: Springer.
  43. Rosa H. (2013). Social Acceleration. New York: Columbia University Press.
  44. Salamońska J. e Czeranowska O. (2021). Mapping the diversity and structuring of migration patterns: One‐off, repeat and multiple migrants in the European Union. International Migration, 59, 6: 29-44;
  45. Santos A., McGuckin N., Nakamoto H.Y., Gray D. e Liss S. (2011). Summary of travel trends: 2009 national household travel survey (No. FHWA-PL-11-022). United States. Federal Highway Administration.
  46. Sayad A. (2002 [1999]). La doppia assenza. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  47. Shachar A. (2009). The birthright lottery: Citizenship and global inequality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  48. Schapendonk J., Bolay M. e Dahinden J. (2021). The conceptual limits of the ‘migration journey’. De-exceptionalising mobility in the context of West African trajectories. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47, 14: 3243-3259.
  49. Schutz A. (1970). On Phenomenology and Social Relations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  50. Sheller M. (2014). The new mobilities paradigm for a live sociology. Current Sociology, 62, 6: 789-811.
  51. Stopher P.R. e Greaves S.P. (2007). Household travel surveys: Where are we going? Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 41, 5: 367-381;
  52. United Nations (2019a). World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights. New York: UN.
  53. United Nations (2019b). International Migration 2019: Report. New York: UN.
  54. Urry J. (2007). Mobilities: New Perspectives on Transport and Society. London: Routledge.
  55. Urry J. (2000). Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century. London: Routledge.
  56. Waldinger R. (2017). A cross-border perspective on migration: beyond the assimilation/transnationalism debate. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43, 1: 3-17; DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2016.123886
  57. Welzel C. (2013). Freedom Rising. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ettore Recchi, Per una sociologia della mobilità umana in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 3/2023, pp 9-29, DOI: 10.3280/MM2023-003001