Migration, Crisis and Theoretical Conflict

This essay examines the nature of the distinction between the equilibrium and historical-structuralist postions on migration as presented in the preceding article by Charles Wood. Rather than as paradigmatic confrontation, we reexamine their theoretical and political differences historically and in the context of the current world economic crisis. We discuss his proposal to focus on households as a strategy for integrating the two perspectives and for advancing an historical-structuralist understanding of migration and social change.