The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political & Social Science

Undocumented Migration in a Global Economy

For thousands of years, migration has allowed people to adapt to life changes, pursue opportunities or to avoid risks. Until very recently, people were able to move relatively easily from across boarders, but migration is now much more severely restricted. In efforts to control the integration of labor markets countries now seek to limit and control the international migration of people into their land. 

 In this volume of The ANNALS the editors argue that illegal immigration arose as feature of capitalist globalization in the 20^th century.  The collected research papers explore the origins of undocumented migration in our contemporary global economy, and show the consequences of so-called illegal immigration both for migrants and for a number of host countries.  The methodological challenges involved in studying clandestine population movements are also advanced by example.