RESEARCH OF MIGRATION PROCESSES: HISTORIOGRAPHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Abstract

The article outlines the main stages of the study of migration processes in English historiography from the end of the XIX century (in the works of Ernst Georg Ravenstein and Georg Simmel) till the beginning of the XXI century, and special attention is paid to the issue of population movement in the humanities. Classifications and typologies of the migration process by Henry Pratt Fairchild, William Petersen, Wilbur Zelinsky, Charles Tilly, and Robin Cohen are considered. How changes in scientific paradigms and the geopolitical situation have influenced trends in population movement research is observed. It’s highlighted that since the 1960s, with the introduction of several new methods in the humanities, scientists have actively used the comparative method in studying migratory movements. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, one group of researchers insisted on expanding migration studies to the global scope, while another suggested focusing on the participation of nation-states in this process. The author analyzed how the idea of transnationalism became widespread in the mid-1990s, eventually influencing the emergence of the so-called international approach to population movement research. It’s confirmed that other important modern trends are rethinking current approaches to the study of ethnicity and assimilation theories, increased attention to gender issues, and the paradigm of mobility. An interpretation of the concept of transfer proposed by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research is shown. Also, an explanation of the terms of forced migration according to the definitions of the International Organization for Migration – IOM, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration – IASFM is given. A brief problematic review of the works of Ukrainian sociologists, lawyers, and economists who have studied various aspects of the phenomenon of migration is considered. It is noted that there is an issue with the interpretation of the terms of resettlement, and deportation in most Ukrainian historical research.