Sara R. Curran

Engendering migrant networks: The case of Mexican migration

This article compares the impact of family migrant and destination-specific networks on international and internal migration. We find that migrant networks are more important for international moves than for internal moves and that female networks are more important than male networks for moves within Mexico. For moves to the United States, male migrant networks are more important for prospective male migrants than for female migrants, and female migrant networks lower the odds of male migration, but significantly increase female migration. We suggest that distinguishing the gender composition and destination content of migrant networks deepens our understanding of how cumulative causation affects patterns of Mexican migration.

Community and contraceptive choice in rural Thailand: a case study of Nang Rong.

This paper blends quantitative with qualitative data in an investigation of community and contraceptive choice in Nang Rong, Thailand. Specifically, it develops an explanation of 1) method dominance within villages, coupled with 2) marked differences between villages in the popularity of particular methods. The quantitative analysis demonstrates the importance of village location and placement of family planning services for patterns of contraceptive choice. The qualitative data provide a complementary perspective, emphasizing the importance of social as well as physical space and giving particular attention to the structure of conversational networks.

Mapping Gender and Migration in Sociological Scholarship: Is It Segregation or Integration?

A review of the sociological research about gender and migration shows the substantial ways in which gender fundamentally organizes the social relations and structures influencing the causes and consequences of migration. Yet, although a significant sociological research has emerged on gender and migration in the last three decades, studies are not evenly distributed across the discipline. In this article, we map the recent intellectual history of gender and migration in the field of sociology and then systematically assess the extent to which studies on engendering migration have appeared in four widely read journals of sociology (American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Demography, and Social Forces). We follow with a discussion of these studies, and in our conclusions, we consider how future gender and migration scholarship in sociology might evolve more equitably.

Gendered Migrant Social Capital: Evidence from Thailand

Employing longitudinal data from Thailand to replicate studies of cumulative causation, we extend current knowledge by measuring frequency of trips, duration of time away, level of network aggregation (village or household), and sex composition of migrant networks to estimate a model of prospective migration among men and women in Thailand. We find that trips and duration of time away have distinct influences upon migration; that household level migrant networks are more influential than village level migrant networks; that female migrant networks and male migrant networks have different influences upon migration outcomes; and, that migrant social capital influences men and womens migration differently. Our elaboration provides significant quantitative evidence as to how gender and family variously imbue migration dynamics.

Interactions between Coastal and Marine Ecosystems and Human Population Systems: Perspectives on How Consumption Mediates this Interaction

DILEMMAS OF POPULATION, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT In the 1980s and 1990s, there was widespread belief among environmentalists and lay people that uncontrolled population growth was responsible for environmental degradation of all types. This neo-Malthusian belief originally surfaced in the publication of The Population Bomb by Ehrlich and Ehrlich in the late 1960s, which interpreted the unprecedented high growth rate experienced in that decade in an alarmist tone (1–3). In ensuing years this belief, combined with work on carrying capacity and a growing environmental movement, led to the seemingly commonsense conclusion that high growth, and high fertility in particular, are destructive for the environment. The rhetoric often is shrill (see various Worldwatch Institute publications in the 1990s), and extends beyond academia and the NGO sectors (4). Scientific research, however, has not shown a definitive link between population growth or size and environmental decline. A growing body of work indicates that neo-Malthusian assumptions about environmental change may be misleading (5). Numerous critics have pointed out that consumption of resources by citizens of the global North is at least as important in explaining environmental degradation as population growth (6, 7). On the other hand, growing consumer demand in developing countries also portends threats to the environment (e.g. the growing middle class in China and India), and does not contradict statements about how high population growth is a cause of environmental degradation (8, 9). In other words, the sheer number of people does not on its own explain the dire state that many ecosystems are in—how people and institutions use those resources, or consume them, is as important (10). The organization of consumption then becomes a key mediating factor. The issue of consumption, how to measure it, and its relationship to resource use is poorly understood (11) and has many different definitions, some of which are culturally subjective and depend on the social and economic aspirations of the consumer (12, 13). Considering consumption of the Earth’s natural resources, the concept needs to be evaluated in terms of its rate versus the regenerative rate of the resource being consumed. In addition, there are very few studies that link population change, environmental change, and resource consumption in a meaningful manner. The dearth of good research on this topic is not surprising. For one thing, the topic spans at least three major disciplines (demography, ecology, and economics) and requires an integrated approach to theory, data collection, and analysis. Since much of the interest has concerned the loss of tropical resources and growing populations in the global South, the knowledge generated needs to be useful for governments and citizens there. Yet, the consumption of those resources is often for markets in the global North, making it necessary for northern institutions and citizens to be aware of the consequences of their actions and for policy solutions that overcome free-rider costs (e.g. citizens of the global North free riding on the resources of the global South (7) ). Finally, there must be a strong connection to policy in order to make the research useful in conserving the environment and improving the quality of life of the people who depend on it. One strategy to overcome the complexities of understanding links among human population systems, ecosystems, and consumption is to focus on one set of dynamics on each end of the equation, and vary some of the mediating factors and the contexts within which they interact. It is to this end that The MacArthur Foundation’s 6-year funding program was directed. Through funding a variety of case studies that focused on migration (as one key component of population dynamics), and coastal or marine ecosystems, the program planned an approach to understanding the dilemmas of population, environment, and consumption and enable future research and policy directions. Coastal ecosystems were selected for a variety of reasons. The Rio Conference in 1992 drew special attention to them. They are of particular interest because a growing proportion of the world’s population lives near a coast (14–16), although mostly in cities. Over the next century global warming threatens to impose dramatic constraints on land use as world sea levels rise (14, 17). Coastal ecosystems are among the most rich and diverse in the world, providing important global functions (ecosystem services) for marine ecosystems and atmospheric composition. Finally, coastal ecosystems have proven more difficult to manage through privatization or market relations. Coastal waters, beaches, and tidal plains can be organized either as openaccess systems, or more likely, some form of common property relations (18), increasing their vulnerability to disruption as a result of human migration in or out of the ecosystem. Besides providing ecosystem services, coastal ecosystems as sites for human economic development put in sharp relief competing human demands for multiple, and not always compatible, uses, such as water for industrial purposes, space for shipping and ports, fishing, tourism, and salt, sand or coral for consumption and building. Thus, they represent a particular challenge for understanding how changing human population structure affects ecosystem sustenance, and consequently human well-being.

Common property systems, migration, and coastal ecosystems.

Abstract Common property systems are a critical institution mediating the relationship between population change and environmental outcomes, especially in coastal and marine ecosystems. Evidence from El Salvador; Goa, India; and the Solomon Islands demonstrates how the social structures and institutions stemming from patterns of human migration variably influence environmental out-comes through their effects on common property resource institutions. In each of the case studies, the demographic phenomenon is not population growth or a change in numbers, but an underlying process that affects population size and growth rates: i.e. migration and associated social relations that result from or cause more migration. The following 3 case studies provide the respective historical and cultural context to show that there is a nonlinear link between population and environment, which when explored reveals the importance of understanding how individuals and communities are embedded in sets of social relations that must be considered when evaluating environmental policies or when determining the causes of environmental degradation.

Population and Development: A Critical Introduction

Introduction. 1. The Numbers Game. 2. Does Population Growth Matter?. 3. Population and North--South Relations. 4. Forging the Connection between Population and Development. 5. Development and Population Growth. 6. Influencing Fertility: Modernization without Development. 7. Targeting Women. 8. Environmentalism to the Rescue. 9. Conclusions: Population and Development Discourse -- the Parting of the Ways. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

A handbook for social science field research : essays & bibliographic sources on research design and methods

PART I: Selecting the Right Tools Overview 1. Archives The Past is Another Country by Robert Vitalis Bibliography 2. Case Studies Case-Based Research by Andrew Schrank: Bibliography 3. Ethnographic Methods Ethnography: Theory and Methods by Alma Gottlieb Bibliography 4. Oral Histories Oral Histories as Methods and Sources by Tamara Giles-Vernick: Bibliography 5. Focus Groups Focus Group Interviews by Susan Short Bibliography 6. Surveys and Secondary Data Sources Using Survey Data in Social Science Research in Developing Countries by Albert Park: Bibliography on Survey Research 7. Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Tools Qualitative Research: Does it Fit in Economics? by Michael Piore: Bibliography PART II: Essentials for the Conduct of Research Overview 1. Essentials for Ethnography Ethnographic Research by Stevan Harrell 2. Essentials for the Case Study Method The Case Study and Causal Research by Andrew Shrank 3. Essentials for Research Design In Search of the Holy Grail: Projects, Proposals, and Research Design, But Mostly about Why Writing a Dissertation Proposal is So Difficult by Michael Watts 4. Research Ethics are Essential Ethical Considerations for Research in Cross-Cultural Settings by Sara Curran Bibliography 5. Maintaining Perspective is Essential Bringing It All Back Home: Personal Reflections on Friends, Findings, and Fieldwork by Andrew Schrank

Unexpected Outcomes of Thai Cassava Trade: A Case of Global Complexity and Local Unsustainability

Abstract Tracing the Thai cassava (Manihot esculenta) trade network, between 1960 and 2000, offers a compelling example of global complexity at work. The emergence of Thailands dominance of world export markets caught the world by surprise. The opening up of a European market for cassava was supposed to be met by Brazilian and Indonesian producers. Instead, Thailand took over the market by 1975. Several factors facilitated this emergence including: entrepreneurial diasporic networks of Thai-Chinese traders, local political economy conditions in both Europe and Thailand, and ecological conditions in Thailand. These same factors also shaped the subsequent timing of the closing of the European market, the emergence of a new industry association, the creation of new cassava products, and the expansion to other markets. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of cassava market yielded equivocal outcomes for both Europe and Thai farmers. A Chinese version of this articles abstract is available online at: www.informaworld.com/rglo

Considering Migration and Its Effects on Coastal Ecosystems

For decades people have tried to understand and define the relationships between population growth and migration, consumption, and environmental condition. Early simplistic formulas claiming a linear relationship between population size and environmental degradation have been shown to be deficient, especially when nuances of demographics such as migration and factors driving and organizing human behavior are not taken into account. Discarding outdated paradigms has not immediately led to the development of new ones that can easily explain the relationship between human population and environment, however. Yet much recent research has moved us towards elaborating the elements that will compose the foundation for a new paradigm. We describe some of these foundational elements from the perspective of migration scholars and with some attention to the research and theory of common property resource management scholars. While we are far from a conceptual framework that adequately incorporates all the variables in such complex relationships between humans and nature, there are common threads in the way researchers have addressed these questions. We believe that there is a timely convergence of ideas and demand for empirical evidence for understanding the relationship between population size, migration, consumption and the health and productivity of ecosystems. Much of this convergence has focused on coastal ecosystems: some of the most complicated, and increasingly most stressed, global environments. In this paper we explore a limited set of theoretical pathways from which hypotheses might be derived about the positive and negative impacts of population growth and migration upon the environment. We focus upon migration, in particular, since it is an understudied phenomenon in coastal areas, but the largest contributor to population growth in coastal areas (Cohen and Small 1998). We suggest three critical questions that need to be answered in order to link migration processes to coastal ecosystem health: 1) Who migrates? 2) How are they received in the place of destination? 3) And, do they maintain ties to their place of origin? In the