About this Research Topic

Background

Today, migration is a topic of great debate in many countries, often fuelling sometimes very different political reactions and emotion when the topic is discussed in our media. Among other topics, migration has driven discussions on national identity, economy, and wider government policy. While migration shapes how we see our own societies today, migration has been a consistent influence throughout history on how societies have been shaped and evolved. Every corner of the planet has been shaped by migration and this will likely continue in the future. Whether we look at the deep or more recent past, migration has forged identities and shaped societies in often fundamentally different directions than in previous periods.

This Research Topic invites scholars working on different aspects of migration, from modern economics, policy, and the wider social sciences to the more distant past, including using ancient DNA, anthropological approaches, and various sets of data to reconstruct how we should understand migration and its relationship to social change. We also invite scholars who look at the future of migration and how it will shape and be shaped by society and the environment. This Topic has the common goal of investigating migration using different and a variety of methods to better understand the relationship of migration and social change.

We ask authors to write about migration using their knowledge and expertise but also keeping the discussion focused on how migration has shaped society and social change. Understanding deeper theoretical factors that have shaped migration as well as how migration has shaped us should be the key focus in understanding results. We ask that authors present their own use cases but keep a wider discussion on the role of migration and social change. Methods applied can be any approach that helps us understand this wider goal.

We welcome research that focuses on one or more of (but not limited to) the following themes:

• Migration and the past;
• Migration and DNA;
• Migration and political change;
• Migration and social upheaval;
• Migration and economic evolution;
• Migration and climate;
• Migration and society;
• Migration and material culture;
• Understanding migration through new methodology.

Keywords: Migration, Social Change, Multidisciplinary, Identities, Policy, DNA

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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