Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics of embracing or rejecting mobility

New evidence is emerging to suggest that climate change mobility is giving effect to changing forms of island identity among Tuvaluans and i-Kiribati. This nascent shift prompts a number of questions addressed in this paper. What, for example, does climate change migration mean for island identity and its geographic performance? How does the spatialization of identity inform shared experiences of climate change, and how does identity assist in the formation of shared positions from which to advocate for change? Drawing on discourses of sedentarism and mobilization among Tuvaluan and i-Kiribati, we explore performances of identity related to climate change being fashioned and refashioned in different contexts.     

Migration with a composite amenity: the role of rents

An attempt is made to analyze the phenomenon of migration using rent as the single variable that could serve as a proxy for the many amenities that might affect migration patterns. A theoretical treatment of the implications of rent capitalization for migration is first outlined. Empirical results indicating the usefulness of this approach are then presented. The geographic focus of the study is on the United States.     

Partisan sorting in the United States, 1972–2012: New evidence from a dynamic analysis

Whether Americans have “sorted” into politically like-minded counties and to what extent is hotly debated by academic and journalists. This paper examines whether or not geographic sorting has occurred and why it has occurred using a novel, dynamic analysis. Our findings indicate that geographic sorting is on the rise, but that it is a very recent phenomenon. In the 1970s and 1980s, counties tended to become more competitive, but by 1996 a pattern of partisan sorting had emerged and continued through the present. Results suggest this pattern is driven by Southern re-alignment and voting behavior in partisan stronghold counties. Lastly, we find evidence that migration can drive partisan sorting, but only accounts for a small portion of the change.     

Cultural Effects on Phenetic Distances Among Postclassic Mexican and Southwest United States Populations

The Southwest United States (US) and Mesoamerica are often thought of as disparate regional networks separated by Northern Mexico. Chaco Canyon in the Southwest US, Tlatelolco in Central Mexico and Casas Grandes in Northern Mexico, all had large inter‐regional trade centres that economically connected these networks. This study investigated how factors such as geographic distance, shared migration history, trade and political interaction affected biological relationships and population affinities among sites in Mexico and in Southwest US during the Postclassic period (ad 900 ~ 1520). Distances based on cultural and geographic variables derived from archaeological and ethnohistoric data were compared with phenetic distances obtained from dental morphological traits. The results of Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.441, p = 0.005), shared migration history (corr = 0.496, p = 0.004) and geographic distance (corr = 0.304, p = 0.02) are significantly correlated with phenetic distances, whereas political interaction (corr = 0.157, p = 0.133) is not. Partial Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.223, p = 0.049) and shared migration history (corr = 0.493, p = 0.003) remain significant when controlling for similarities with geographic distance, although the correlation for trade and phenetic distance is lowered. Geographic distance is not significant when similarities with trade (corr = 0.067, p = 0.681) and shared migration history (corr = 0.148, p = 0.127) are controlled. These results highlight the importance of economic relationships and shared migration history across geographic regions in interpreting biological relationships among contemporaneous populations in prehistoric Mexico and the Southwest US. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The determinants of labor migration in Egypt

The factors which affect individual decisions with regard to geographic movement in Egypt are examined and the magnitude in which each factor exerts its influence on aggregate geographic labor supply adjustments is estimated. The spatial unit used in the study is the administrative region, of which there are 25. No effort is made to esimate the impact which migration has had on the origin or destination region. The migrant will presumably choose that destination which, given his information, the migrant thinks will be best. The model which is employed attempts to explain gross interregional migration without the explicit introduction of an individual decision function. Rather, migration is related to certain aggregate proxy variables. Among the independent variables employed in the analysis are (origin and destination) income, education, urbanization, and population. The other explanatory variable used is the distance between region i and region j. The migration measure employed refers to cumulative male migration which occurred prior to 1960; the independent variables are defined for a given point in time (1960). The independent variables explain a reasonably large percentage of the variance in migration between regions in Egypt. All variables were significant at the 5% level or better. The findings indicate that distance acts as an important impediment to migration. Migration is away from low wage and toward high wage regions, which may have contributed to a narrowing of regional wage differentials. Migrants are attracted to regions which have large populations and to regions which have a large percentage of urban to total population. A tendency exists for migrants to come from regions with large populations. There is also some tendency for migrants to come from regions which have a relatively large urban population. Migrants do not appear to come from regions with high educational levels.     

Poor Areas,or Only Poor People?

Anti-poverty programs often target poor areas even when there is seemingly free migration. Should such programs focus instead on households with personal attributes that foster poverty, no matter where they live? Possibly not; there may be “hidden” constraints on mobility, or location may reveal otherwise hidden household attributes. Using survey data for Bangladesh we find significant and sizable geographic effects on living standards after controlling for a wide range of nongeographic characteristics of households, as would typically be observable to policy makers. The geographic structure of living standards is reasonably stable over time, consistent with observed migration patterns, and robust to testable sources of bias.     

21世纪的中国与中国地理学:一场文化(地理)革命?

一位著名的新加坡文化地理学家,兼亚洲问题研究专家从更广的视角回顾了近年出现的中国国内外地理学者关于中国文化地理的研究,以及中国的崛起对21世纪文化地理学的影响。作者指出了中国目前正面临的六大问题,并认为如果从文化地理学的视角来看这些问题,不仅可以加深对中国的了解,还可以重塑文化地理学作为分支学科的实用性形象。这六大问题分别是:农业改革、经济改革、城市变迁、城乡移民和与其密切相关的社会不公平、不断改变的家庭结构和环境变化。作者认为,如果中国文化地理学希望最大限度地帮助本学科开发一个更加国际化的,更为包容的研究方法,就要考虑到中国面临的这些重大问题,给出有建设性的答案,并导出新的理论观念,使地理学的理论思维更加多样化。     

China and Geography in the 21st Century: A Cultural (Geographical) Revolution?

A noted Singapore-based cultural geographer and specialist on Asia reviews the recent emergence of cultural geographic research on and within China and the implications of China's rise for the study of 21st century cultural geography more broadly. She identifies six major issues modern China is confronting that, when addressed from a cultural geographical perspective, may both enhance an understanding of the country and reshape the practice of cultural geography as a subdiscipline: agricultural reform, economic reform, urban change, rural-urban migration and related social inequalities, the changing family structure, and environmental change. The author argues that if China's cultural geography is to help the subdiscipline at large develop a more international and inclusive approach, it must be driven by questions of significance in China, yield constructive answers of relevance to China, and at the same time derive theoretical ideas that diversify the collective geographical imagination.     

Reevaluating the Relationship Between In‐, Out‐, and Net Migration for Nonmetropolitan Counties: An Update on Beale's U‐Shaped Curve

The relationship of gross migration to net migration is continuously undergoing reevaluation in the literature. However, one major finding by Beale (1969) that produced the famous u‐shaped curve has received little attention, a surprising situation considering the significant changes that have taken place in rural America since 1969. In this paper I use gross migration data from IRS returns for 1995–1998, and differentiate the rates using a number of classification schemes developed by the USDA and the Census Bureau. The results show that rural America is a diverse place, and that migration rates vary tremendously depending on the geographic, economic, and social characteristics of the county. Furthermore, the relationship between gross and net migration varies much more than previously suggested, especially in negative net migration counties, a finding with implications for migration theory and public policy.     

The effects of proximity and transportation on developing country population migrations

A substantial body of evidence indicates that distance detersmigration, internally and internationally, in the industrializedas well as the developing economies. Despite this, distanceplays almost no role either in the development literature oreven the new economic geography. After a brief overview of thetypes of evidence on the role of distance in affecting migration,the paper critically examines a number of hypotheses as to whydistance might deter migration, then draws out some implicationsfor the emergence and persistence of geographic poverty traps.The paper closes with a series of suggestions for additionalresearch and data needs, to better inform policy decisions thatimpinge upon the geographic distribution of poverty, and henceupon the potential for trickle-down development.     

Geographic aspects of genocide: a comparison of Bosnia and Rwanda

The study of genocide requires a geographic approach that looks at how genocidal actions are purposefully planned to target specific groups and areas, methodically implemented through expulsions and murder, and politically intertwined with popular aspirations of territorial nationalism. A geographic focus is used here to discuss the concept of genocide, its recurrence in the twentieth century, its formulation under international law, and its eruption in Bosnia and Rwanda. In this comparative approach, geography-linked concepts such as Lebensraum , territorial nationalism, forced migration, and ethnic cleansing are used to explain the production of genocide and its consequences.     

A Measurement Theory for Time Geography

Hägerstrand's time geography is a powerful conceptual framework for understanding constraints on human activity participation in space and time. However, rigorous, analytical definitions of basic time geography entities and relationships do not exist. This limits abilities to make statements about error and uncertainty in time geographic measurement and analysis. It also compromises comparison among different time geographic analyses and the development of standard time geographic computational tools. The time geographic measurement theory in this article consists of analytical formulations for basic time geography entities and relations, specifically, the space–time path, prism, composite path-prisms, stations, bundling, and intersections. The definitions have arbitrary spatial and temporal resolutions and are explicit with respect to informational assumptions: there are clear distinctions between measured and inferred components of each entity or relation. They are also general to n- dimensional space rather than the strict two-dimensional space of classical time geography. Algebraic solutions are available for one or two spatial dimensions, while numeric (but tractable) solutions are required for some entities and relations in higher dimensional space.     

The Use of Expert Judgments in Predicting Interregional Migration Patterns: An Analytic Hierarchy Approach

This paper presents an application of Saaty's analytic hierarchy process to the prediction of interregional migration patterns. This application is an example of how Saaty's method can be used in analyzing geographic problems to synthesize the results of theoretical models with the judgments of experts and policymakers. After discussing the basic theory behind Saaty's method and how expert judgments can be inserted into the Tobler-Dorigo migration model, the results of an application of this model to predict migrations between the nine U.S. census regions for the 1965–70 period are used to illustrate the basic steps in this approach.     

Population geography

Population geographers are involved in contemporary policy issues, the production of quality work, and successful communication of research findings. This article reviewed some contributions population geographers have made to the understanding of the geographic impact of aging and the consequences of migration. Geographers have come late to the study of aging and have focused primarily on four main policy issues: 1) fertility decline, 2) housing demography, 3) aged patterns of housing and migration, and 4) government policy. Fertility decline research has highlighted information diffusion theories for fertility decline by researchers such as Zelinsky, Skeldon, and Noin. Changes in attitudes and the removal on constraints has been examined by Woods. Residential mobility studies have been the focus of researchers such as Gober, Moore, and Clark, and Myers. Regional labor markets and the movement of the "baby boom" through the life course have been examined by Miron, Plane and Rogerson, and Clout, who studied the empty nesters and the movement out of suburbia. Private residential housing has increased for the elderly in England and Wales (Hamnett and Mullings), and seasonal migration of Minnesotans results in lost sales revenues and high health and social costs for those too ill to travel (Craig). Geographers have not accomplished a significant thrust into the literature on demographic aging. Contributions to the transnational and international literature have resulted in internal migration studies by Clout on "counterurbanization" in northwestern industrial Europe, while Fielding, Baltensperger, Marchand and Scott, and Jones have examined the continuing rural-urban migration. The loss of urban population has been associated with inner city problems, the impact of labor supply and market demand, and the revenue and health care consequences in the work of Champion, Gibson, and Champion and Illeris, and Craig. Impacts are felt differently by geographic location, and assorted models have been developed for examining interregional migration. Population movement between countries will be a future major policy issue associated with disparities in development. The benefits and disadvantages of immigration have been examined. Refugee movements have been a neglected are of study.     

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS AND THE WELFARE STATE: THE CASE OF REGIONAL MIGRATION AND U.S. AGRICULTURAL LABOR

A common perception is that immigrants, including illegal immigrants, use disproportionate public aid and select locations based on characteristics of services offered. This paper asks to what extent geographic clustering of undocumented immigrant agricultural laborers in the U.S. is correlated with take‐up of public aid broadly defined. Evidence from a nationally representative farmworker survey does not support welfare migration for undocumented immigrants, who have been previously unidentifiable in the literature. The paper, therefore, challenges existing notions of welfare migration by illegal immigrants that have inspired state‐level public policy initiatives.     

Towards a Transpacific Archaeology of the Modern World

The historical archaeology of overseas Chinese communities is a rapidly growing subfield. Although historical archaeology is not widely practiced in China, there are well-developed interdiscipinary research centers that investigate the history and culture of migrants’ qiaoxiang (hometown) societies. Scholars in American Studies programs throughout Asia are also bringing new perspectives to the study of Chinese migration past and present. By collaborating with these scholars, archaeologists on the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project are developing new chronological, geographic, spatial, and material frameworks for the interpretation of overseas Chinese archaeological sites and landscapes.     

Immigration Responses to Global Change in Asia: a Review

There has been a parametric increase in the scale and complexity of global international migration in the last fifteen years. Asia has been prominent in this change with countries in the region being important sources and destinations of migrants. This paper summarises the main developments which are occurring in south‐north migration, student migration, forced migration, north‐north migration and international labour migration. In the transformation of international population movement in the region a most striking feature is the strong pattern of circularity in movement and the networks which are established between origin and destination. It is argued that several global changes have been instrumental in these changes. These include the three ‘Ds’: demography, development and democracy. It is shown that increasing gradients of difference between nations in the pattern of growth (or lack of it), in the workforce, in income and poverty levels and in patterns of governance, have been important drivers of the migration. Moreover they are likely to increase in their impact over the next two decades. In addition, the impact of global environmental change on migration is considered, as are the effects of proliferating social networks and the global migration industry.     

The Latest Approaches and Concepts in Geography

The article discusses the present state of knowledge of the basic components of the heat balance of the earth's surface (radiation balance, loss of heat to evaporation, turbulent heat exchange) and the distribution of these components in time and space. Soviet research is concerned with applying heat-balance data to the study of physical-geographical processes (hydrologic regime, plant and soil cover), to the study of integrated geographic problems (geographic zonality) and practical problems (weather and hydrologic forecasting, the use of solar energy for productive purposes, and the use of heat-balance data for planning reclamation projects and other nature-transforming measures.)     

A HIERARCHICAL REGIONALIZATION OF RSFSR ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS USING 1966–69 MIGRATION DATA

The coefficients of migration intensity calculated by Rybakovskiy (see preceding article) are used to derive a system of migration regions, which are defined as groups of administrative units with maximum internal interaction and a minimum flow across migration-defining boundaries. The technique is based on the assumption that gross migration flows may provide a reasonably objective basis for determining practical boundaries within a national territory. The technique yields a hierarchy of regionalizations that is then compared with the official Soviet system of major economic regions. None of the 10 major economic regions in their entirety turn out to conform to strong migration components, although one migration cluster, focused on the Northwest, corresponds fairly closely to the official Northwest region. For the rest, administrative units of the Far East and Siberia are grouped together in one migration cluster, as are the southern Volga region and the North Caucasus. Units of the Central [Industrial] region also tend to cluster with those of the Central Chernozem region. However, the most tightly connected migration dyads and triads are found to be wholly contained within the official economic regions, so that the most highly intensive migration streams are found not to cross the boundaries between the official regions. (The study was supported by a grant of the National Science Foundation for work on applications of graph—theoretic clustering and transaction flow analysis in geography and regional science.)     

Voter migration as a source of electoral change in the Rocky Mountain West

Examining county-level voting patterns since 1992, this paper describes the rising strength of the Democratic Party in the Rocky Mountain West and explores domestic migration (voter mobility) as a cause of the electoral change. Other theories of electoral change (voter conversion, voter mobilization and generational replacement) are analyzed and found less significant than a voter migration theory. A spatial autoregressive model also presents evidence of significant contextual “neighborhood effects” contributing to electoral change in the region. Relying on IRS tax-filer migration data, Census data and voting results for all Western counties since 1992, this work finds a significant correlation between growing Democratic strength and in-migration of new voters who generally hail from more Democratic environments than the Western counties into which they are emigrating. The strongest correlations emerge in counties where the share of creative class occupations is also growing quickly. Migrating voters are building a new Western community – a community of creative classes, childless households and urban professionals who are more likely to vote Democrat than the rural conservatives they are increasingly outnumbering.