Editorial: Migration and Sexual Change

The current world is globally differentiated in many segmented sexual subcultures. Unsurprisingly, the existence of sexual differences – real or imagined, feared or desired – is embedded in the functioning of ethno-cultural boundaries. As the papers published in this special issue show, migration challenges such boundaries in many ways – some obvious, some counter-intuitive - and through a variety of processes. In recent years, many studies of migration-related sexual change have legitimized the importance of this topic among migration scholars. We do not have yet, however, satisfactory analytical frameworks and cumulative research programs. In this introduction to the special issue, we show how future progress may be contingent upon the capacity to distinguish among different perspectives as well as towards a more explicit discussion of the existing narratives.