EXIT. Why people leave
Martin Staudinger in conversation with Thomas Faist
EXIT. Why people leave
The question of where you were born has long since become a determining factor in individual life chances. In some regions of the world today, more and more people are setting off to seek their fortune somewhere else permanently. What does this do to their homeland - and what does this mean for the rich destination countries in the global North? Sociologist Thomas Faist sheds some light on the subject - and dispels some of the rampant myths about global migration in the 21st century.
The term «exit» refers to the decision to leave one's home country because there are simply no more prospects there. It has become a mass political phenomenon of our time and an alternative to social protest, particularly in the global South. Emigration on the African continent, for example, is intensifying, not least as a result of climate change, which is hitting the global South much harder than the global North. This is giving rise to new political conflict constellations in both the countries of immigration and emigration. On the other hand, global social inequality, the gap between North and South, is being cemented rather than mitigated by increasingly rigid migration regimes. Consequently, a new, fair migration policy is needed in order to channel the exit in the global South into mobility that is profitable for all involved.
In an interview with Martin Staudinger, Thomas Faist, one of Europe's leading migration experts, talks about the findings of his research into global migration.
Thomas Faist is Professor of Transnational Relations, Development and Migration Sociology at Bielefeld University. Faist is a member of Germany's Council for Migration and was elected to the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts in 2020.
His book „Exit“ was published by C.H. Beck in September 2022 (ISBN 978-3-406-78235-0).
Martin Staudinger, journalist, worked at Falter until 1998, then moved first to Format and then to Profil, where he became head of the foreign desk. He has been back at Falter since 2021 and heads up the daily newsletter project FALTER.morgen.
Book tip:
Thomas Faist: EXIT. Why people leave
Verlag C. H. Beck, September 2022, 978-3-406-78235-0, Hardcover, € 32,oo