Join us online for a conversation with Dr. Randall Hansen, author of War Work and Want: How the OPEC Oil Crisis Caused Mass Migration and Revolution.
WATCH
ABOUT THE BOOK
In War Work and Want, Hansen argues that economic and geopolitical changes unleashed by the OPEC oil crisis led to well over 100 million migrants that few people expected or wanted. More people are on the move than at any time in human history: 281 million. This total figure has more than tripled since 1975 (90 million) and almost doubled since 1990 (153 million). Economically, immigration has transformed multiple sectors of the economy: agriculture, meatpacking, construction, retail, and caregiving. Politically, migration has cut a swathe through regional, national, and global politics: reshaping coalitions, reconfiguring party systems, and helping propel the far right to power in Europe and—in the form of Donald Trump—the United States. The enormity of these changes is doubly impressive because large-scale migration was unexpected and, in the global north, unwanted: slower post-1970s economic growth should have led to less immigration, and both European and American politicians attempted to end it.
SPEAKERS
Randall Hansen | Author
Randall Hansen, MPhil, DPhil (Oxon), is Canada Research Chair in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Global Migration Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School. He works on migration & citizenship, eugenics & population policy, and the effect of war on civilian populations.
Achilles Kallergis | Moderator
Achilles Kallergis is an Assistant Professor at the New School for Social Research and the Director of the Cities and Migration Project at the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility. His research focuses on urbanization, migration, and mobility in rapidly growing cities. Specifically, it explores environmental mobility and how locally-generated data can provide new evidence on mobility patterns and contribute to improving living conditions in low-income destination areas through better provision of housing and services.