SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Despite the common framing of crisis and migration as anomalies outside the norm, they are in fact deeply embedded in histories of global development and change, including in the contemporary unfolding of global capitalism which has shaped Agenda 2030. What can we learn from the Covid-19 pandemic about the relationships between human mobility, development and crisis? Although many crises are associated with elevated out-migration, by contrast, salient features of Covid-19 included a dampening of fresh movement, reversals and immobilities, highlighting the importance of a wider mobility perspective. At the same time, the persistence of migrant populations through the upheavals of the pandemic highlights both the social and structural embeddedness of migration, and complex processes of differential inclusion. Stepping back, the analysis questions whether Agenda 2030 will be able to adequately address the features of the global migration landscape which have caused concern, lending weight to calls for deeper transformation.