International Migration Research ─ Constructions, Omissions And The Promises Of Interdisciplinary

Vigorous research into international migration in a number of academic disciplines over the past two decades has generated much empirical knowledge but, argue editors Bommes (sociology, U. of Osnabrück, Germany) and Morawska (sociology, U. of Essex, UK), these disciplines have generally failed to integrate this work into their mainstream empirical and theoretical agendas in spite of its central role in major transformations of contemporary societies. Drawing form the fields of law, linguistics, historical demography, anthropology, sociology, history, political science, and gender studies, eleven contributions from European and American authors consider issues that arise from interdisciplinary moves towards such integration. Presented in four groups, the essays critically examine established epistemological, theoretical, and interpretive premises and concepts; consider the role and impact of international migration research as a subfield of different disciplines; how differing theoretical and methodological premises across disciplines may conflict with interdisciplinarity; and the interdependent relationship between the scholarly study of international migration and the social and political contexts in which scholarly study is embedded. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Michael Bommes is Professor at the University of OsnabrA?ck in Germany. Ewa Morawska is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.