The Migration Intersections Grid (MIG): An Organizing Framework for Migration Research in and Through the Twenty-First Century

Migration has always been, is now, and will continue to be an important issue in many differentand interrelated respects (demographically, economically, environmentally, legally, politically,socially, etc.). Approached from any number of vantage points, migration is fundamentally a process—spatial and otherwise—rooted in historical and contemporary inequalities andinequities within and across populations and places where diverse sets of actors and dynamicscontinually shape and are shaped by and in relation to one other. As one of the only constants here is change, there is not—because there cannot be—a single unifying approach to migration research (Amelina and Faist 2012; Bhagat 2020; Castles 2010; de Haas 2021). Instead, much like the knowledge and tools possessed by an expert journey person who is prepared to step into any situation known or unknown, what is needed is a comprehensive way to think about and approach all aspects of migration research so that researchers are well-equipped to address whatever timeless and timely issues, questions, etc. arise.

For this special issue honoring the 60th anniversary of theInternational Migration Review, we take up this task and use this paper to develop and provide a comprehensive organizing framework, which we call the Migration Intersections Grid (MIG), to inform and guide migration research in and through the remainder of the 21st century. In contrast to, say, a theoretical framework wherein ideas take the form of abstract concepts and propositions connecting these concepts to one another, an organizing framework is necessarily much broader and encompasses all aspects of the research process, including not just whatis researched, but also how and why, as well as by and forwhom. The MIG can therefore be viewed as a tool to help ensure that migration research is and remains inclusive, rigorous, and impactful. 

We start by motivating our work and conducting a high-level scoping review of summaries and syntheses of different directions of travel in migration research over the years, decades, and beyond. Informed by these results, we then identify and describe 12 key components that constitute the MIG. Finally, we illustrate the intersectional nature of theMIG by applying it to several selected areas of migration research where a comprehensive organizing framework of this sort is especially and increasingly needed to address existing and emerging issues and questions in the current and coming decades.