A new paper exploring the role of pioneer migrants in the development of migration systems has appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of Critical Realism 11 (4), 413-437. The paper marks the conceptual advancement stemming from the THEMIS project – Theorizing the Evolution of European Migration Systems, bridging the links between migration studies, as an avenue for intellectual exploration, and broader currents of social theory.
From the Abstract of the paper:
This article focuses on the genesis of migration systems and the notion of pioneer migration. It draws attention both to the role of particular individuals, the pioneers, and also the more general activity of pioneering which is undertaken by many migrants. By disentangling different aspects of agency, it is possible to develop hypotheses about how the emergence of migrations systems is related to the nature of the agency exercised by different pioneers or pioneering activities in different contexts.