Coping and Adaptation in Times of Exodus: Venezuelan Migration Decisions and Strategies

Coping and Adaptation in Times of Exodus offers an in-depth, interdisciplinary exploration of the Venezuelan migration crisis - one of the most significant South-South population movements in recent decades. Drawing on the results of the MICLACAS research project, this book examines how Venezuelan migrants and their families navigate the challenges of displacement. Combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with migrants, their families, host communities, and experts, the volume examines the decision-making process behind migration and immobility, the strategies migrants employ to cope and adapt, and the outcomes of integration across diverse socio-political contexts.

Its unique design links the perspectives of migrants in Peru, their relatives in Venezuela, and their neighbours in host communities, allowing for a multi-sited and relational understanding of migration dynamics. By engaging with theories of coping, acculturation, integration, and transnationalism, this book not only fills a critical gap in the literature on Venezuelan migration but also offers broader insights into the complexities of forced migration in the Global South. It will be of interest to scholars of migration, demography, sociology, Latin American studies, and public policy, as well as policymakers and practitioners working on migration governance and social integration.

Marcin Stonawski is an Associate Professor of Demography at the Krakow University of Economics and the director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of Population and Religion (CASPAR). He is a leader of the project Migration Crisis in Latin America: Coping and Adaptation Strategies of Venezuelan Migrants and Their Families and the Risk of the Global Migration Crisis (MICLACAS).

Karolina Sobczak-Szelc is an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw and Krakow University of Economics. She has worked on several projects in the field of forced migration, environmental mobility, migration trajectories, including Horizon 2020 program, National Centre of Research and Development (Norway Funds), National Research Centre (PL), and Polish Aid.

Katarzyna Górska is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Latin America at Jagiellonian University and a collaborator with the Centre for Advanced Studies of Population and Religion (CASPAR) at Krakow University of Economics. She has participated in research projects funded by the European Union, European Commission, the National Science Centre of Poland (NCN), and various university initiatives.

Agnieszka Olter-Castillo is a PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Political Science and International Studies. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in various Latin American and European countries. Her research experience includes participation in projects such as Human Capital and Decent Work at the University of Lima and MICLACAS at CASPAR, Krakow University of Economics.

Silvana Gómez is a Venezuelan lawyer and consultant specialising in human rights, international humanitarian law, and asylum and refugee law. Her research explores the intersections between migration, political violence, and exile, with particular focus on the Latin American diasporas in Europe. She is currently the Director of the Center for Latin American Culture in Poland and a research collaborator at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Population and Religion (CASPAR).

Jan Brzozowski is an associate professor of economics at the Institute of European Studies and the Head of Jagiellonian Centre for Migration Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland). He served as manager, PI or research fellow in multiple international projects on international migration, including Horizon 2020 program, National Research Centre (PL), CERV and INTERREG CE. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora and as the associate editor of Comparative Migration Studies.