THE PROGRESS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE GEOPOLITICS OF MIGRATION IN WESTERN GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH

DING Teng-fei; GAO Quan

doi:10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2024.02.002

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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2024, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (2) : 11-20. DOI: 10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2024.02.002

THE PROGRESS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE GEOPOLITICS OF MIGRATION IN WESTERN GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH

DING Teng-fei¹, GAO Quan^1,2

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Abstract

In the era of globalization, migrants are unneglectable forces that magnify, mediate, and modify geopolitics. In geographical literature, the geopolitics of migration has become an emerging field of study that critically juxtaposes migrants' experiences with geopolitical processes. By tracing the theoretical and empirical progress of the field, this article outlines the ontological and epistemological reflections that facilitate the ongoing dialogues between geopolitics and migration studies. It argues that:1) Ontologically, the geopolitics of migration stresses migration-related practices as the embodiment of geopolitical tensions and the enmeshment of geopolitical actors. This challenges the state-centered characterization of international relations, by politicalizing the territorialization and deterritorialization of human mobility. 2) The geopolitics of migration offers decentered, relational, and materialist epistemologies by harnessing postmodern theories such as feminism, biopolitics, and assemblage thinking. Then, this article maps four often-discussed themes of empirical concern, including refugees, borderwork, labors, and diasporas. By doing so, it illustrates how each theme enriches the documentation and theorization of geopolitical processes, mediations, and subjects from different angles. Zooming in on the themes allows an engagement of research with evolving migration governance and geopolitical praxis. Lastly, this article suggests exploring more possible junctions of migration and geopolitics in previously neutralized interfaces between migration and nonhumans, technologies, and environment.

Key words

migration / geopolitics / globalization / migration governance / scales

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DING Teng-fei, GAO Quan. THE PROGRESS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE GEOPOLITICS OF MIGRATION IN WESTERN GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH[J]. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. 2024, 39(2): 11-20 https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2024.02.002

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