ABSTRACT

The movement of populations causes constant turbulence, disruption of order, and alters social relations as the encounters between people cause unchartered transformations. The encounters between migrants and others unleash processes, which are uncharted, unrated and uncertain. Developments point to need for sociological explanations for transformations taking place at global, regional, national and local levels. There is an unprecedented rise in the numbers of asylum-seekers in the globe whilst migrant labour is increasingly required in ageing Western societies. The complexity of the phenomena of migration and asylum study bring together several intersecting themes of the debates concerning migration and asylum at the level of political, ideological, social, economic and cultural discourses, which are transforming the public sphere and political institutions in European societies, which appear increasingly polarised and divided. European perspectives on migration flows seemed to be informed by Malthusian and evolutionist views.