Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: African Migrants in the Spotlight

Didier Ruedin

doi:10.17645/si.v9i1.4076

Abstract

This thematic issue examines questions of decision-making under limited (and contradictory) information, focusing on migration decisions. Migrants are far from a homogenous population, but they commonly use narratives as heuristics. We observe much agency among migrants to pursue migration plans, with migration decisions best understood as chains of multiple decisions rather than simple push-pull or two-step models.

Highlights

In recent years, migration has become highly politicized in Western countries and many seek stricter forms of control
At the UN-level, migration control is sought because uncontrolled migration often means exploitation (Ruedin & Nesturi, 2018): Informed choices, effective policies, reduced risks for migrants on the move. The objective of this thematic issue is to better understand how migrants decide whether to migrate and where to migrate to by considering the limited information available to them. All contributions in this thematic issue grapple with broader questions of decision-making
The studies in this thematic issue contribute to understanding migration decisions in three areas: the decision to leave, decisions en route, and decisions as student migrants

Summary

Introduction

Migration has become highly politicized in Western countries and many seek stricter forms of control (van der Brug, D’Amato, Berkhout, & Ruedin, 2015). At the UN-level, migration control is sought because uncontrolled migration often means exploitation (Ruedin & Nesturi, 2018): Informed choices, effective policies, reduced risks for migrants on the move. The objective of this thematic issue is to better understand how migrants decide whether to migrate and where to migrate to by considering the limited information available to them. All contributions in this thematic issue grapple with broader questions of decision-making. Migration decisions are chains of multiple decisions that build one on another and can lead to unexpected turns (Crawley, Jones, McMahon, Duvell, & Sigona, 2016)

Understanding Migration Decisions

Conclusion