Jørgen Carling

Jørgen Carling (born 11 November 1974, in Oslo) is a Norwegian researcher specializing on international migration.

He holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Oslo and is Research Professor of Migration and Transnationalism Studies.

He obtained the International Baccalaureate from the United World College of the Atlantic (1991–1993) and pursued undergraduate studies in Japanese, Human Geography, Demography and Economics at the University of Oslo (1994–1999) before obtaining a master's degree (2001) and PhD (2007) in Human Geography at the same university.

Carling is known for coining the term “involuntary immobility” to describe the situation of people who wish to migrate to another country but are prevented from doing so by restrictive immigration policies.

The New York Times described it in the following terms: “If Cape Verde is the Galapagos of migration, Jorgen Carling, a Norwegian geographer, is its Darwin.” [2] His study on Chinese migration to Cape Verde, conducted together with his wife Heidi Østbø Haugen, was an early and widely cited contribution to the study of China's renewed presence across Africa.