ABSTRACT
Migration between two places can impact subsequent migration-related attitudes and behaviours. According to the theory of cumulative causation, migration has social and economic effects on communities, and this makes ‘additional migration likely’ (Massey 1990, 4-5). This theory suggests that ‘feedback mechanisms’ are at play in which past migration facilitates future migration (Lee 1966; Massey 1990). However, feedback mechanisms can also have the opposite effect and can weaken or reverse existing migration dynamics (de Haas 2010; Mabogunje 1970). Thus, when migration is perceived as successful in the sending communities, social networks generate ‘positive feedback loops’. However, if migration experiences are perceived negatively by the majority, this could defy the cumulative causation theory (Garip and Asad 2013).
