Social theory and migration research in dialog

“Migration” has received less attention in social theory compared to other topics, and at the same time, migration research is often said to have a “theory deficit.” Against this background, we argue that it is mutually beneficial to relate and link social theory and migration research more closely. On the one hand, a stronger reference to social theories is important for migration research to break down prevailing views on migration and to further develop independent analytical perspectives and concepts that allow for a critical-reflexive distance to (national-)state and hegemonic categories. These established categories often go hand in hand with undercomplex, essentialist notions of society, as in dominant integration discourses. In social theory, on the other hand, migration is rarely addressed, with hardly any debates in migration research discussed. When migration is addressed, it is mostly to illustrate theoretical concepts and theses, without sufficiently considering the complexity of migration phenomena. In this introductory article, we outline how we can revise perspectives and categories of migration studies based on a rearticulation of social theories and, conversely, how we can rethink theoretical approaches starting from a perspective of migration (studies).