Migration, Social Context, and Environmental Change

The intersection of migration, social context, and environmental change has become an essential focus in current research. Social, political, and economic factors can either hinder or facilitate migration and are critical to understanding global migration patterns. The migration process involves not just the relocation of individuals but also a significant social transformation, encompassing these multifaceted issues. Despite its complexity, there is still a lack of comprehensive exploration into how these elements determine human mobility, highlighting a gap in our knowledge about their interconnectedness.

Recent studies demonstrate that population and environmental linkages have gained significant attention, revealing that environmental resources and impacts are largely influenced by social, economic, and political factors. While environmental scarcity can catalyze migration due to competition over resources, it is crucial to note that migration does not necessarily lead to conflict. Research is still limited in regions where demographic and environmental factors converge to predict change. Moreover, countries with lower institutional capacity face greater challenges in adapting to environmental stresses, where declining resources and resulting conflicts are prevalent, often leading to displacement and migration in search of better life opportunities.

This Research Topic aims to explore social and environmental perspectives on human mobility, focusing on factors determining global migration. By addressing these emerging concerns, this research seeks to illuminate the role of broader social processes in the global migration movement, facilitating a deeper understanding of human mobility within societal transformations.

To bring together further insights in these intersections, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• growing populations and scarcities of renewable resources

• population growth's responsibility for environmental problems

• rising population growth and increased per capita consumption

• interactions between population dynamics, development, and environmental change

• unequal access to resources across local populations

• the influence of social-structural changes on migratory aspirations

• social and political contexts' interactions with environmental change

• environmental issues linked to poverty and inequality

• urban environmental challenges in both affluent and poorer nations.

We encourage submissions of various article types to deepen the understanding of this research area.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: social context, environmental change, migration, human mobility, population growth, demography, global change, development, poverty, inequality, local populations

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.