Paper short abstract:

Migration plays a fundamental role in development but it is neglected in much of development studies outside the specialists on the migration-development nexus. I explore the impact of this neglect, especially for those in some poor regions whose livelihoods are shaped by mobility in some form.

Paper long abstract:

The movement of people between places around world has always played a fundamental role in the development of human society. In the first part of this paper, I argue that over the last twenty years the analysis of this relationship between mobility and development has been largely captured by a narrow mini-industry shaped by migration specialists. Since the turn of the century there has been an important pivot in academic and policy debates from interest migration’s contribution to development towards looking at development’s role in managing migration. This has been facilitated by the way in which migration has been incorporated into the global development agenda. As a result, the everyday mobility and migration that underpins people’s lives and livelihoods in every part of the world tends to be neglected, unless it is associated with a migration problem.

In the second half of the paper, I will explore some of the damaging consequences of this neglect. First, I suggest that it is hard to envisage any development process that does not entail some change in mobility patterns, whether stimulating (or forcing) new movements, or curtailing the need or opportunities for them. Second, I will show that internal and international mobility, often unnoticed and unproblematic, underpins the lives of millions of people in some of the poorest regions of the world. The neglect of mobility by development actors and analysts means they are flying blind when it comes to this critical aspect of people’s current and future lives.