Figures of Migration in the Classical Sociologies of Marx, Weber, and Du Bois

Bibliographic Data

ID2364041
AuthorsHelge Schwiertz (0000-0001-5614-5362, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume42
Issue4
Pages329-353
Publication date2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/07352751241292095
OpenAlexW4403790420
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited74

Migration is a topic of heated debate, yet it is relatively absent from sociological theory discussions. This article analyzes the extent to which structural de-thematization or specific framing of migration shapes sociological perspectives by focusing on approaches that have been canonized as 'classics.' Through a rereading of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and W. E. B. Du Bois, I address absences and show how these authors have nevertheless constructed certain figures of migration: as a passive figure of forced mobility, a threatening figure of otherness, and an active figure of social transformation. How these authors depict migration is both symptomatic of their approach but also of a contemporary sociological and sociopolitical discourse that can be critically reflected in relation to these works. By showing how migration is treated in these different intellectual projects, the article contributes to a genealogy of sociological thought and its impact on contemporary perspectives regarding migration, diversity, and inequality

Economics · Epistemology · Neoclassical economics · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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