Migrants: The Story of Us All

Product Information

Over the last few years, DNA evidence has been brought to bear on the wider question of the location of that supposed Indo-European homeland, and a potential resolution to the AIT/OIT dispute. As a result, there’s a growing scientific consensus about ancient movements of population from the stretch of land usually referred to as the Russian steppes, covering eastern Ukraine, parts of southern Russia and western Kazakhstan. This region’s ancient nomadic inhabitants have been identified as the first Indo-Europeans – whose descendants can be found in large numbers throughout communities who speak IndoEuropean languages in Europe and Asia and, as a result of more recent migrations, in the Americas and Australasia. In Migrants, Sam Miller writes that this was a lie. Metics – migrant workers, outlanders, living on the earth but not born of it – may have outnumbered citizens at several points in Athenian history. In a paradox later repeated across millennia, the burgeoning city-state found in them an economic buttress and an ideological foil. Even if their family had lived in Athens for generations, a metic would never be able to vote. Citizenship was heritage, a gift awarded only to the autochtons. To everyone else, the gates of the great assemblies were closed. What emerges from this onion of a book (fascinating digressions around no detectable centre), is, however, more than sufficient compensation. We have here the seed of an enticing and potentially more influential project: a modern history that treats the modern nation state – pretending to self-reliance behind ever-more-futile barriers – as but a passing political arrangement, and not always a very useful one.

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. Sam Miller’s new book, Migrants: The Story of Us All, comes when vilification of migrants and refugees is at the top of the Tory government’s and media’s agenda. Miller aims to “cut through the toxic debates” and puts migration at the heart of human history. He adopts a broad definition of migrants first coined by psychologist Greg Madison. It says, “A migrant is someone who has moved from one culture to another and is challenged to undergo some adjustment to the new place”. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Migrants cuts through the toxic debates to tell the rich and collective stories of humankind's urge to move.

Categories

What is migration, anyway? Not much more than a hundred years ago, women regularly “migrated” to marry or to work as governesses, servants and in shops. And yet they would never have called themselves “migrants”. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

In seeking to reset what has become a toxic debate about migration in many countries, Sam Miller, readily admits his latest book has been a hugely ambitious and daunting undertaking. His central argument is that humans are fundamentally migratory in ways that we often fail to recognise. He wants Migrants: The Story of Us All to be seen as an alternative history of the world, in which humans migrate for a wide range of reasons: not just because of civil war, or poverty or climate change but also out of curiosity and a sense of adventure. Migrants presents us with an alternative history of the world, in which migration is restored to the heart of the human story. And in which humans migrate for a wide range of reasons: not just because of civil war, or poverty or climate change but also out of curiosity and a sense of adventure. On arrival, migrants are expected both to assimilate and encouraged to remain distinctive; to defend their heritage and adopt a new one.Timely and empathetic: a rare combination on this most controversial issue' Remi Adekoya, author of Biracial Britain Miller's adept handling of the theme of migration is commendable. The theme of belonging is beautifully explored, with the author highlighting the intricate connections between identity, culture, and the search for a place to call home. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. We are all descended from migrants. Humans are, in in fundamental ways, a migratory species, more so than any other land mammal. Migration is one of the most toxically controversial subjects of our day, but it is not only an issue of our age. The author's writing style is both eloquent and engaging. Miller's descriptions transport the reader to various settings, from the bustling streets of a war-torn city to the treacherous paths of a refugee camp. The prose is evocative, effectively conveying the characters' emotions and immersing the reader in their world. The pacing is well-balanced, capturing both the urgency and the quiet moments of introspection that define the characters' journeys.

Different distances on the human story allow one to tell wildly different stories. If you follow humanity through deep time, our settlement of the almost the entire planet looks very much like manifest destiny and we’ll all surely end up on Mars tomorrow. But if you trace our movements over a few dozen generations, you’ll discover that, absent force majeure, people are homebodies, moving barely a few weeks’ walking distance from their birthplaces. Miller thinks that humans naturally emigrate, and our unease about this is the result of pastoralism, cities, and other historical accidents.

Starting this I was a little worried that it might be one of those books that basically just glorifies traveling and the stupid upper-class liberal belief that everyone needs to "see the world." Being a big advocate for localization and simple living I just have no patience for that idea at this point. Fortunately, though Sam Miller is sort of into a lot of the same things I am and therefore puts a little more of a radical spin on the topic than the typical travelogue.