The Migration-Development Nexus in Jordan (2013)

Undergraduate: Mattis Hennings

Faculty Advisor: Sarah Shields
Department: International & Area Studies

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Jordan is both a migrant sending and receiving country. The country¿s complicated migration dynamics have had a fundamental impact on its sociopolitical and economic development. In recent years, scholars and policy makers have paid close attention to the potential for migration to have a positive impact on development outcomes. Widely optimistic about migrant¿s development potential, much of recent scholarship lacks appropriately nuanced conceptualizations of the interplay of migration and development. Migration must be understood as a constituent part of the development process, but also as an independent factor affecting it ¿ and as a factor that has the potential for negative, as well as positive, impacts on human development. The Jordanian case reveals the great potential for migration to positively shape a country¿s development, but it also highlights the need for caution in policy approaches. Overly sanguine attitudes towards the migration-development relationship are not justified, as positive outcomes are heavily contingent on societal context and policy frameworks.