Throughout history, migrants have fueled the engine of human progress. Their movement has sparked innovation, spread ideas, relieved poverty, and laid the foundations for a global economy. In a world more interconnected than ever before, the number of people with the means and motivation to migrate will only increase. Exceptional People provides a long-term and global perspective on the implications and policy options for societies the world over. Challenging the received wisdom that a dramatic growth in migration is undesirable, the book proposes new approaches for governance that will embrace this international mobility. The authors explore the critical role of human migration since humans first departed Africa some fifty thousand years ago - how the circulation of ideas and technologies has benefited communities and how the movement of people across oceans and continents has fueled economies. They show that migrants in today's world connect markets, fill labor gaps, and enrich social diversity. Migration also allows individuals to escape destitution, human rights abuses, and repressive regimes. However, the authors indicate that most current migration policies are based on misconceptions and fears about migration's long-term contributions and social dynamics. Future policies, for good or ill, will dramatically determine whether societies can effectively reap migration's opportunities while managing the risks of the twenty-first century. A guide to vigorous debate and action, "Exceptional People" charts the past and present of international migration and makes practical recommendations that will allow everyone to benefit from its unstoppable future growth.
List of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 PART I : PAST Chapter 1: Migration from Prehistory to Columbus 11 Early Migration 12 Connecting Humanity 18 Migration and Humanity 37 Chapter 2: Global Migrations: Toward a World Economy 39 The Age of Exploration 40 Imperialism and Coercion 45 Unfree Migrations: Slavery and Indentured Labor 47 Global "Free" Migrations (ca. 1840-1914) 57 Builders of the Modern World 67 Chapter 3: "Managed" Migration in the Twentieth Century (1914-1973) 69 The End of the Liberal Period 70 The Interwar Period: Economic Decline and Regulated Migration 77 Post-WWII Migrations 85 Finding Reasons to Regulate 92 PART II: PRESENT Chapter 4: L eaving Home: Migration Decisions and Processes 97 Micro-Level: Individuals and Families 99 Meso-Level: Networks and Systems 103 Macro-Level: Demographic, Political, and Economic Conditions 109 Individual, Society, and National Influences 120 Chapter 5: I mmigration and Border Control 121 Channels and Flows of Migration 122 Economic Migration 127 Social Migration 140 Refugee Migration 147 Border Control 153 Beyond Border Controls 160 Chapter 6: T he Impacts of Migration 162 Impacts on Receiving Countries 164 Impacts on Sending Countries 178 Impacts on Migrants 193 Impacts on Societies and Migrants 209 PART III : FUTURE Chapter 7: T he Future of Migration 213 The Backdrop of Globalization 215 Supply of Migrants 219 Demand for Migrants 241 Chapter 8: A Global Migration Agenda 259 Thought Experiments 261 A Long-Term Vision of Freer Movement 265 Principles for Global Migration 270 The Need for Global Leadership 281 Notes 287 References 331 Index 359