International Migration, Social Science, and Public Policy

Abstract

This article identifies a number of challenges the social sciences will have to face in order to play a broader role in formulating international migration policies. This new role is subject to two major processes: globalisation and the universal acceptance of human rights. Both processes affect policy options, albeit from different perspectives. Recent research findings have confirmed that there is no direct link between poverty and South‐North migration, despite the fact that many policy recommendations are based on this premise. The article suggests that the contradiction between policy recommendations and research findings is due to the weight of economic theory in migration policy. Yet economics does not take into account the complex nature of social, political and cultural factors that also influence migrants' motivations and migration processes. Recent efforts to formulate multi‐disciplinary theories should, it is suggested, help devise more effective policies. Channels of communication will need to be improved between knowledge‐producers and policy‐makers. The article also recommends distinguishing between a conceptual and an instrumental use of knowledge.