Sociology of Migration in Latin America: Formation and Development of a Field of Study

Abstract

Since the middle of the twentieth century, the study of migration in Latin America has evolved in response to the themes and debates dominating the social sciences at specific points in time. This chapter provides an overview of the field of sociology of migration in Latin America. It covers some of the principal debates within, and contributions from, the sociological research carried out by social scientists from various disciplines and by experts working in national academic institutions as well as a variety of international organizations. In short, this introduction presents an analytical reconstruction of the development of and the differentiation achieved in the specialization of the studies of migratory processes from various sociological approaches. This overview demonstrates that the field of migration studies is broad, heterogeneous, and, above all, inextricably multidisciplinary.