Abstract
This case study will contribute to a smaller subset of the migration literature by applying an alternative framework for analyzing total migration in a developing, sending state. Three specific questions are addressed by the study: (1) how does official economic development policy in a developing state affect intra and interstate migration? (2) how does state sponsored violence affect intra and interstate migration? (3) what is the relationship between economic development, state sponsored violence, and migration? The applied framework utilizes census and migration data along with reports from the truth commissions in Guatemala, and predicts that economic modernization or economic development necessarily leads to an increase in state sponsored violence, essential for the initiation or maintenance of economic reforms, resulting in an increase in intra and interstate migration. However, in the Guatemalan case study the predicted pattern does not always emerge; there are several instances when the pattern is temporarily disrupted, or when the pattern is entirely contradictory to the outcomes predicted by the selected frameworks. The case study suggests that intra and interstate migration respond differently to state sponsored violence and that intrastate migration may be bounded by a saturation effect. Furthermore, the study suggests that beyond a simple threshold the intensity of state sponsored violence affects the volume and duration of total migration. Several similar case studies have examined economic development, state sponsored violence, and migration in Guatemala, this particular case study can provide evidence linking the previous Guatemalan case studies.