Research on the environmental dimensions of human migration has made important strides
in recent years. Yet contributions from a sociological perspective have been limited. Human
geographers, anthropologists, and scholars focused on livelihood vulnerability and adaptation
have predominantly led the charge to better understand natural environment push factors as they
relate to migration decision making and migration patterns. Yet evidence has been “varied and
patchy,” with wide-ranging methodologies, little theoretical development, and myriad geographic
foci (Black et al. 2011, p. S3). With a now solid and growing body of evidence from case studies, it
is time for sociologists to expand migration–environment inquiry to include issues of inequality,
perceptions, and considerations of agency vis-a-vis structure. We argue that sociology has much `
to contribute to these areas.