"Migration and National Development: Reconciling Opposite Views"

• Event Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008
• Time: 04:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk

Center for Advanced Study
Initiative on Initiative on Immigration - History and Policy
"Migration and National Development: Reconciling Opposite Views"

Alejandro Portes
Professor of Sociology, Princeton University

Portes reviews opposite positions on the relationship between migration and the socio-economic development of sending countries and regions and the theoretical schools that underlie each of them. In order to adjudicate between these competing perspectives, it is necessary to distinguish between the human capital composition of different migrant flows, their duration, and their structural significance and change potential. This theoretical discussion culminates into a typology that seeks to clarify under which conditions migration can have developmental effects and under which it will be contrary to the advancement of home communities and countries. Policy implications of this analysis, in particular the role of governments in sending and receiving nations, are examined.

Museum visitors are reminded that outside food and drinks are not allowed in the Museum. Backpacks and other large items brought to the Museum will have to be stored; there is limited locker storage space available for these items.