1st Edition

International Migration and Rural Areas Cross-National Comparative Perspectives

By Myriam Simard, Birgit Jentsch Copyright 2009

    While immigrants are still predominantly choosing urban areas to locate to, there is now increasing evidence of immigration to rural areas which poses its own challenges for those relocating, from the scarcity of high quality jobs to the provision of public and private services. Addressing the shortcomings in current research, this book employs an innovative approach by exploring this relationship from a cross-national, comparative, global perspective. It draws lessons from case studies across a range of geographical and political contexts, including Canada, the USA, Ireland, Scotland, Greece and Russia. Bringing together migration experts from a range of academic disciplines, International Migration and Rural Areas contributes to conceptual developments and also identifies policy concerns which can be pursued at national, sub-national and supra-national levels. As such, it will appeal to policy makers, as well as scholars across a range of disciplines, including geography, politics, demography, social policy, sociology and anthropology.

    List of Figures and Tables, Notes on Contributors, Acknowledgements, Series Editor’s Preface, 1 Introduction: Key Issues in Contemporary Rural Immigration, 2 Taken by Surprise: New Immigrants in the Rural United States, 3 Retention and Departure Factors Influencing Highly Skilled Immigrants in Rural Areas: Medical Professionals in Quebec, Canada, 4 From Enthusiasm to Perplexity and Scepticism: International Migrants in the Rural Regions of Greece and Southern Europe, 5 Migration to Rural Ireland: A North Cork Case Study, 6 The New Scottish Rural Labour Market: Processes of Inclusion and Exclusion, 7 Immigrants and Receiving Communities in Rural Russia: Experiences from the Central European and the Far East Regions, 8 Conclusion: Comparative Perspectives on Rural Immigrants’ Integration, Index

    Biography

    Birgit Jentsch is Senior Researcher at the Ionad Nàiseanta na h-Imrich (National Centre for Migration Studies), Scotland. Myriam Simard is Research Professor at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Canada

    'This penetrating collection of analyses spanning Northern, Southern, and Eastern Europe as well as North America offers a comprehensive treatment of rural immigrant integration in comparative context. This highly accessible volume will be of interest to rural demographers, sociologists and students of immigration to new destinations.' William Kandel, Economic Research Service, USA 'This volume provides an excellent overview of rural immigration in the European and North American context, highlighting the significant variety of contexts and experiences represented by the case studies. It provides rich information and sufficient transparency so that readers can explore the implications for their own questions and context - a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers alike.' Bill Reimer, Concordia University, Canada 'Fundamentally the book has a two-fold agenda; it aims to find a balance between examining migrants' and receiving communities' experiences while also informing theoretical debates. The latter marks a particularly valuable contribution given that to date research has been somewhat ad hoc. ... successfully maintains a delicate balance between empirical research and theoretical analysis and as a result it makes for an extremely informative and interesting collection. ... Reflective of more contemporary debates, this collection fruitfully transcends statistics to achieve a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of rural migration. This is undoubtedly a major strength of the book... Overall the book is well written, logically structured and clearly presented, employing charts, maps and tables appropriately. A welcome resource, the collection will prove useful to students new to migration studies, particularly those in postgraduate studies and research. Finally it is likely to influence the direction of future research by provoking debate among scholars who already have expertise in this area of research.' Migration Letters