Urban, Race and Migration

The MSU Department of sociology has long been concerned with the sociological study of urban, race and migration. While we wish to build on this established concern, we envision a future theme group that is best characterized by the incipient paradigm called the New Urban Sociology that maintains an integrated and multi-dimensional approach that sees urban and metropolitan regions as the location where a variety of social processes and relationships come together, are modified, and shape human life.

The New Urban Sociology

The New Urban Sociology emphasizes the importance of global transformation (our department theme) as central to shaping life in all urban and metropolitan regions. Every society is undergoing a process of urbanization, such that an increasing fraction of the world's population resides within urban environments. While the idea of urban may conjure up an image of closely packed tenement buildings and skyscrapers, we see the urban way of life of incorporating broader urban regions - including suburban and exurban areas which now contain greater populations than central cities.

Moreover, lifestyles in locations quite distant from urban concentrations - regions associated with agricultural production, tourism, leisure and wilderness - rely on technologies, transport systems, forms of production and consumption and reveal patterns of stratification, meaning-making, and demographics that are not significantly distinct from those found in urban centers.

This approach is concerned with the influence of global political and economic forces as well as the national and local patterns that shape life in urban and metropolitan regions. The new urban sociology understands the dual relationship between environments and people. Rejecting strictly structural approaches, it considers the role of culture, aesthetics and symbol systems in creating meaning within human environments.

Race

Besides its orientation towards the new urban sociology, the urban, race and migration sub-theme also focuses on the sociological meanings and consequences of race and ethnicity as significant bases of social organization, status, identity and life chances. Of key importance are relations between race and ethnicity and other bases of social inequality, solidarity and identity, such as gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, generation, language and spatial location.

At the beginning of the 21st century it is obvious that people throughout the world are more closely connected as a result of economic and technological globalization and international travel. Yet, at the same time, racial and ethnic conflicts are also virulent and deadly social realities in almost every part of the modern world and many such conflicts are a consequence of globalization. It is, therefore, within this larger context that we pursue our national and international concerns with race and ethnicity.

Migration

Finally, the third component of the urban, race and migration sub-theme is migration. The current era is marked by an unparalleled level of human migration, which is directly related to an international array of both recent and long-term political, economic, cultural, social and technological developments. The sociological study of migration addresses modes of exit, reception and incorporation of different types of migrations (including labor migrants, refugees, transnationals and sojourners) in distinct political, economic and cultural contexts.

Migration contributes to grow and change within urban and metropolitan regions. Migration and its aftereffects have great and wide ranging impacts upon nearly every aspect of social, economic, political, and cultural life in countries of origin and settlement - altering religion, dietary habits, economic patterns and racial, ethnic, gender and national identities. Migration itself will continue to be a major social issue for the foreseeable future. And many of today's most gripping social problems - including racial and ethnic conflict, economic inequality, the viability of the nation state, and the cultural/ideological basis of social institutions - are themselves the product of previous migrations. As a consequence, the area of urban, race and migration encompasses among the most significant, challenging and fertile topics for sociological analysis today.

Faculty members' involvement with the focus area

Several members of the MSU Department of Sociology are involved in the comprehensive study of urban, race and migration and their causes and consequences at global, national, regional and local levels. Reflecting the diverse interests of group members, we approach our areas of study from an ecumenical perspective. At the same time, all of us acknowledge the interlinkage between particular aspects of urban, race and migration and more general trends.

The members of this group have already established a significant reputation in the study of race and migration, having published numerous books, book chapters and journal articles on these issues. Our research comprises the full range of sociological methods, from visual sociology and cultural studies, to historical analysis, ethnography, demography, census analysis, ethnosurveys and survey research. As a consequence, the MSU Department of Sociology is recognized as a center of expertise and excellence in sociological research, teaching and publication on topics related to race and migration.