An Uprooted World
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One of the most consistent themes that confronts us when we examine different regions of the world is the voluntary
and involuntary movement of people from one region to the next. An important question for World Regional Geography,
then, is what happens to different regions of the world when people move in and out of them? Within this theme, we
focus on the implications of people moving to a foreign place for reasons of work and war. Why do some people travel
halfway around the world in order to find a job? How are such people received in their new region? What are the
consequences-social, cultural, economic-of large-scale immigration on the host society? What are the impacts of
emigration on the regions left by migrants? How do people who have been forced to flee their homes manage to survive in
a new place?
The presence of migrants and refugees in foreign countries is one of the most palpable components of globalization for
many people, and understanding the nature of migration and the problems of immigration is one of the most important parts
of "thinking geographically." Some of the units in "An Uprooted World" seek to better understand the basic controversies
surrounding migration, and confront a variety of opinions regarding migration-from xenophobic border-closing nationalism
to political advocacy of migrant rights and interests. While these units present a diverse array of examples of people
"uprooting" and moving to a new region or locality, they all offer varying pictures of the ways people navigate the
many differences among the world's different regions.
The first unit examines the politics of Mexican immigration in the United States, exploring the debates over the
impact of immigration on the U.S. economy and society as well as looking at the impact of emigration in Mexico. Other
units (Chapters 4, 6, and 10) explore the phenomena of "guest workers," who travel to Europe and Southwest Asia for
economic and employment opportunities, and the "maid trade" of domestic workers from the Philippines who travel for
work throughout Asia and many other regions of the world. We also examine the problem of internally displaced refugees
in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Sudan (Chapter 7). The case from Sudan also explores the events that led to the "lost boys,"
young parentless war refugees who have found their way to new homes in North America (Chapter 2 and covered in the theme
"Finding a Place in the World"). Finally, two units consider the "brain drain" problem that some regions of the world face,
in which many of their most talented workers leave for better opportunities elsewhere instead of staying and contributing to
the development of their home regions. We examine both Sub-Saharan Africa (Chapter 7) and New Zealand (Chapter 11) in this
context.
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