Migration Unit – Should I stay or should I go?

Migration is the enduring theme of human history.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

Should I stay or should I go?

Migration has a significant impact on the geography of the world.

It has contributed to the diffusion of cultures by assimilation and acculturation.

Migration has contributed to the complex mix of people and cultures found in different regions of the world.

Migration occurs at different scales.

Intercontinental migration moves from continent to continent.

Intracontinental and Interregional migrations:

Between countries and within countries.

Migrants are motivated by: Better economic conditions.

Perceptions of safety.

Refugees – flight from disastrous environmental or political conditions. (Darfur, Rwanda, Dem. Republic of Congo, Somalia)

Rural to Urban migration.

Began on a large scale during the Industrial Revolution. The advanced economies of Europe and the USA could absorb the migrants because of?

This process is now taking place in LDC’s of the world in South America, Africa, and Asia where industrialization is now growing.

There are some jobs available, but….

Squatter settlements

Migration (particularly in the USA) is motivated by changes in lifestyles. Moving to a warmer climate, getting married, having children.

Migration patterns in the USA now include a process called “Gentrification.” This involves people moving back into the city from the suburbs. Usually after their children have graduated from high school.

This also involves displacing poor renters in order to obtain land to build more expensive apartments and townhomes.

“Shotgun” houses were often built quickly to satisfy a demand for housing in “boom” towns.

While they were not meant to be long term housing, many are still used for decades after they were built.

Poorer inner city families moved in to take advantage of the cheap rent.

Migrations are classified as primative, forced, voluntary, or imposed (impelled.)

Imposed (impelled) migrations are not entirely forced but which conditions make highly advisable.

Can you name two imposed migrations that had a huge impact on the USA?

An innovative move is one in which the migrant takes on a new way of life.

A conservative migration preserves an accustomed way of life in new surroundings.

Primitive migration: in response to environmental conditions: usually undertaken at low levels of development.

Forced migration: compulsory transfer of a group of people, usually be a government.

The US government forced millions of Native Americans west after forcing them off their traditional lands in the Southeast USA.

The Choctaw “Trail of Tears.”

Impelled migration: similar to forced migration but it differs in that migrants retain some ability to decide whether to move or not.

The Original Cuban Truck RaftThe original attempt at reaching the United States was done with a converted 1951 Chevy pickup truck on July 16, 2003. The truck's drive shaft was attached directly to a propeller and the craft could reportedly reach a leisurely 7 knots (8 mph). 55-gallon oil drums were used for flotation. The dozen or so Cubans in the truck were caught just south of Key West after being sighted by a U.S. Customs aircraft.

Free migration: individual movements for economic betterment.

Mass migration: large numbers, entire communities, moving en masse without being fully informed on an individual basis what to expect.

Reasons for migration can be complex but can usually be conceptualized as a result of two factors, push and pull factors.

Push factors are what makes a person leave a location.

Factors can be man made or environmental

Pull factors are what draw people to a location.

end

Make a list of cities your parents then you have lived in.

How many times has your family moved within a city?

Example: 211 Pecan Street (6 years) Borger, TX209 Maple Street (14 years) Borger, TX - Mother still there,48 yrsSan Marcos TexasBorger, TXSan Marcos, TXAustin TexasSan Marcos, TexasBaytown, TexasSan Marcos, TexasAlbuquerque, NMHouston, TXAmarillo, TXHouston, TX

9914 Jademont (2 years)Current address (33 years)