Migration
College 1
Theoretical definition;
- What do we mean by…?
- How do we see / think about…?
- What is our concept…?
- What do we want to study?
Operational definition;
- How is … measured?
- How do we operationalize our concept?
- How do we study…?
College 2
Migration;
- Changing residence and moving all social activities from one place to another
- International migrants move between countries
- Internal migrants move within national boundaries
Why do people migrate?
- Push-pull theorie; People move because they are pushed out of their former location, of
because they have been pulled someplace else
- Implementing strategy; A goal (education, a better job, a nicer house, a more pleasant
environment, and so on) might be attained by moving.
Generalizations about migration;
- Migration is selective. Only a selected portion of the population migrates.
- The heightened propensity to migrate at certain stages of the life cycle is important in the
selection of migrants.
Theories of International Migration;
Theories focused on the initiation of migration patterns;
- Neoclassical economics; the classic supply and demand of labour migration
- The new household economics of migration; decisions made at household level, individuals
receive help from extended family
- Dual labor market theory; jobs in primary sector, jobs in secondary sector, population decline
in the West
- World systems theory; industrial revolution, Core -> periphery
Migrant labour;
Immigrants form an important part of the labour force in many of the world’s most industrialized
countries. Many industrialized countries are seeking to attract highly-skilled foreign workers.
Remittance flows;
Money send by migrants back to their countries of origin is an increasingly important source of
outside funding for many developing countries.
Theories of the Perpetuation of Migration;
Theories focused on explaining the flow of migrants between countries;
- Network theory; migrant networks, lowers migration costs
- Institutional theorie; legal and illegal agents
- Cumulative causation; each act of migration changes the likelihood of subsequent decisions
to move
Theories of migration;
Transnational theory;
- Communities; virtual and migrant
- Borders of nation states do not define identity
- Transnational organizations; cultural activities and political aspirations
Issues surrounding migration to settlement;
- Ethnicity
- Racism
- State en nation
- Refugees
Ethnicity;
- Sense of self of… “US” versus “them”
- Sense of “others”
- Identity; as giving meaning -> power
- Due to discrimination can lead to othering
Racism;
- Institutional or structural
- Informal
- Media created discourse -> turkse jongeren
State and nation;
- Changing notion of nation
- Citizenship; how to define?
- Can migrants be citizens?
Refugees and settlement issues;
- Vulnerability
- Adapting new culture/environments
- Health
- Integration; segregation or integration? Tibetan refugees in India
College 3;
How migrants make places in host communities by inscribing these places with parts of their culture?
The place making discussion is situated within the cultural-temporal framework of liminality.
The migrant;
Silvey and Lawson (1999) in their article “Placing the migrant”, urge migration scholars to rethink the
category of ‘migrant’, not necessarily in terms of just male and rural but one which also includes
markers such as gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and nationality.
Migrant and space/place;
- The social production and construction of place as defined by Low (1996); ‘the actual
transformation of space – through people’s social exchanges, memories, images and daily
use of the material setting – into scenes and actions that convey symbolic meaning’.
- Lefebvre (1991) emphasized that “space is… produced by social relations”.
Migration -> place -> liminality;
- Liminality
- There is a period of transition when a person has left his previous stage and has not yet
entered his new stage, it is this in-between stage that Van Gennep termed liminaire. Building
on Van Gennep’s work Turner (1979); in relation to ritual and performance, defines the
liminal as a space “betwixt and between the normal, day to day cultural and social states”.
Inscribing places; language;
- Among migrant communities the use of their native language, Kannada, aided as a binding
factor to forge a linguistic tie
- When the migrant leaves the settlement and enters the city he is confronted with the task of
speaking two other languages; Konkani and Hindi
- Hindi becomes a lingua franca
Language and liminality;
- Learning Konkani assist in the assimilation process into the Goan hoast population leading to
a movement from the liminal stage to a more defined identity
- If the migrant refrains from learning Konkani and speaking Kannada and Hindi, the migrant
will continue in the liminal stage
What do we learn?
- Migrant settlements should be examined not merely as peripheral urban sites but more
specifically as cultural microcosms which are spatialised by the social relations
- The inscribing of place with both material and non-material cultural reflects the process by
which the migrant tries to reconnect with the culture of his homeland
- Use of language and material culture make migrant settlements safe places wherein a sense
of community is imagined
- Building a monastery and celebrating the Jathri are fine examples of the agency exercised by
the migrants
- Agency in a collective form is the social power of the community in the migrant settlements
College 4;
DAS; daily activity space;
- DAS; area in which someone performs daily activities
- Most important daily activity; work
- Differs by individual
-
Hence; migration mostly measured as move over xx kilometers or as moves between labor
market areas
Labor migration; the ‘ideal type’ of migration;
- Either internal or international
- Quite rare
- Yet, major impacts; large influxes in some areas/times, de-population in others, considerable
proportions of immigrants in some countries
Labor migration; two types;
Moving for a job;
- Migration after job has been secured
- Common in formalized job markets
- Common when immigration is regulated
- Common in Western world (global North)
Speculative labor migration;
- Migration to find a job or to set up business of livelihood
- Used to be common in global North
- Common now in global South
- … but not exclusively so!
Short history migrants to the Netherlands;
- 1950-1960 Immigrants from former colony Indonesia;
- 1960-1975 Guest-workers, first from Spain and Italy, then mainly from Turkey and Morocco;
- 1975-1985 Immigrants from former colony Surinam; Family reunification of guest-workers;
- 1985-now Family reunification and family formation , Asylum-seekers, labor migrants from
EU, about 100,000 - 130,000 (incl. Dutch) a year
- From mid 2000s ‘Knowledge migrants’ (EU, India, China)
Labor migrants; main theories
Macro and micro, neo-classical economies;
- Not such emphasis in Castles & Miller
- Mainly developed for internal migration
- Only suitable for voluntary migration
- Subject to criticism
- Subject to expansions, additions
- BUT; crucial as a first start/benchmark
- Assumption = rational behavior (people weigh costs and benefits)
- Are people rational?
Macro, neo-classical theories;
- Supply and demand for labor
- Wage differentials lead to migration
- Migration as equilibrating mechanism
- But;
- Why so little migration?
- Why don’t wages converge?
- Why migration in ‘wrong direction’?
- Why so much return migration?
Micro; the human-capital model of migration (first proponent; Sjaastad, 1962; The costs and returns
of human migration)
Human capital = the knowledge and skills that can be used to gain an income;
- Gathered by education
- Gathered by work experiences
Human capital theory;
Migration is investment.
Migration is undertaken if worth wile
The costs of migration;
- Direct monetary costs (or removal itself, or buying, selling, furnishing a home
- Opportunity costs
- Depreciation or location-specific capital
- “Psychic costs’ (non-monetary) -> leaving behind social network
- People don’t move, unless…
The benefits of migration;
- Enlargement of search area (for jobs and for educational opportunities)
- Better income, better job (evidence; yes, for men. Also in the long run -> for men)
- Non-monetary benefits; nicer/more stimulating environment
Costs and benefits for society;
- Not easy to assess
- Remark 1; costs in youth are avoided
- Remark 2; N jobs = not fixed. But = f (N people)
Explanations of return migration;
- Disappointment; expectations not met, unemployment, low wages
- Target income; migration to accumulative savings, preferences for home. Higher income ->
faster return
- Circular migration; intended short-term migration, experiences leads to less return
- Social network; return when network in host country is small or network is concentrated in
country of origin
- Legislation; more restrictive immigration policies, less return
- Economic change; country of origin becomes more attractive relative to host country; more
returns
Dual citizenship; less loyalty of double loyalty?
Comparing language debate; dominant idea for a long time; 1 language is better. Latest inside;
growing up with 2 languages = beneficial.
College 5;
Marieke van der Pers
Types of migrants;
- Voluntary migrants; people who move for economic or other benefits
- Forced migrants; people who flee their homes to escape persecution of conflict
Different types of forced migrants;
- Refugees; crossed national boundaries; a person who is outside his/her country of nationality
or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is
unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return, for
fear of persecution.
- Internally displaced persons; displaced within own country; are people or groups of
individuals who have been forced to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in
particular as a result of, or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of
generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural- of human-made disasters, and
who have not crossed an international border.
- Asylum seekers; individuals who’s applications for asylum or refugee status are pending a
final decision.
Causes of displacement (man made disasters)
- Before the end of the cold war; tensions between states; East and West. Large scale wars,
not aimed at individuals directly
- After the end of the cold war; fragile states, decolonization and post colonial wars. Tensions
between ethnic groups, population growth (poverty, unemployment, young men).
Globalization; ethnic and resource conflicts
- Individuals became more target of war; displacement as mean of war and conflict; rape as
conflict, child soldiers.
Causes of displacement (other);
- Natural disasters; earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, landslides
- Development projects; dams, airports, roads and urban housing
- Environmental change; desertification, deforestation, land degradation, rising sea levels
This all leads to; an increasing number of (internally) displaces persons worldwide. De duration of this
displacement is increasing.
Displacement; prevention of direct deaths but; disrupted lives, loss, physical and mental health
problems, dependency on others.
Refugees, two major patterns;
- The vast majority of refugees are hosted by neighbouring countries with over 80 percent
remaining within their region of origin
- The number of urban refugees continues to grow. It is estimated that half of the refugee
population was residing in urban areas at the end of 2007
Protracted displacement; a situation in which the process for finding durable solutions for internally
displaced persons is stalled, and/or IDP’s are marginalized as a consequence of a lack of protection of
their human rights.
Asylum seekers; are individuals whose applications for asylum of refugee status are pending for a
final decision.
Refugee; recognized asylum seeker
Many are rejected, but nevertheless stay illegally
In the Netherlands; in 2010 15.000 persons requested for asylum. Around half of the asylum seekers
get a permanent or temporary status. Most come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia and former
Yugoslavia.
International policies and sanctions;
- Employer sanctions; punishing employers for the unauthorizing hiring of undocumented
aliens
- Legalization policies; e.g. guest workers
- Temporary foreign worker admission programmes; give work and residence permits to
undocumented workers who meet their criteria.
The migration industrie;
- People who earn a living by organizing migratory movements
- Travel agents, labour recruiters, brokers, interpreters, housing agents, immigration lawyers,
human smugglers and banking institutions.
- Also members of own communities who exploit migrants or asylum seekers
- Individuals, international criminal organisations (ICOs)
 Outcome of the migration process:  Social network  Transnational linkages
Human smuggling and trafficking
- Smuggling; transportation of people across international borders to a non-official entry point
of a destination country for a variety of reasons. Typically those being transported may not
have adequate formal travel documents or prior approval to enter the destination country.
- Trafficking; is not the same as people smuggling. A smuggler will facilitate illegal
entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person
is free; the trafficking victim is coerced in some way. Victims do not agree to be
trafficked: they are tricked, lured by false promises, or forced into it. Traffickers use
coercive tactics including deception, fraud, intimidation, isolation, physical threats
and use of force, debt bondage or even force-feeding drugs to control their victims. Illegal migrants face imprisonment, deportation and death
 Leaders of smuggling and trafficking organizations are rarely punished
College 6,
What is a social network; a social structure of individuals that are tied by one or more specific types
of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, friendship or kinship.
Social network theory;
Social networks as a basic assumption. Assumptions; propinquity, homophily, size of the
interpersonal environment
Migrant networks: ‘ Interpersonal ties that connect migrants, former migrants and non-migrants in
origin and destination areas trough ties of kinship, friendship and shared community origin’ -> lower
risks and costs.
Migrants and family in home country;
- Decision to migrate
- Social support in host country
- Help in housing and work
- Receiving end (remittances)
Migrants and fellow migrants;
- Destination
- Safety net
- Sharing roots in host country
- Outsider to insider
College 8,
Migration is not an individual decision;
- Why do women profit less from migration than men?
- Why do women often earn less after migration?
- Why do women often stop working after migration?
- Only understood if migration = regarded as household decision
Three theories;
Human-capital model of family migration;
Migration = investment in (return on) HC …for the couple as a whole
Weighing of costs and benefits: for couple as a whole
If total benefits exceed costs, family will move
Predictions:
• Couples migrate less frequently than singles (true)
• Dual-earner couples migrate less frequently than one-earner couples (true, but only
if all else = equal)
• Most moves for sake of partner who earns most (mostly man) (true)
• Partner who earns less (mostly woman) = often tied mover (true)
• Any partner could be tied stayer (probably true)
Model = gender-neutral
Marital-power theory
› Adaptation of HC model
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Idea: partner with most power tends to push through migration regardless of total costs and
benefits
Power = derived from (potential) income
Model = gender-neutral
Prediction that differs from HC predictions:
› Total outcome for couple not necessarily positive
› Hardly any moves for sake of partner who earns least
Gender-role theory
› Idea: Man tends to push through migration regardless of total costs and benefits
› Woman tends to sacrifice her career for man’s even if she earns more
› Cause: socialization into gendered division of labor (household versus paid labor)
› Predictions that differ from HC predictions:
› Total outcome for couple not necessarily positive
› Most moves for sake of man
› Man’s education and income more influential to migration than woman’s
› Predictions that differ from HC predictions:
› Total outcome for couple not necessarily positive
› Most moves for sake of man, regardless of who earns most
› Man’s education and income more influential to migration than woman’s
› Main difference with marital-power theory:
› NOT gender-neutral, but:
› Postulates male dominance
Conclusions;
› Substantial impact of local ties on family migration
› Siblings important local tie next to parents
› Impact of education and income is gendered, that of unemployment and local ties is not /
hardly
…at least, in Sweden in the early 2000s
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Not only the household context is important to migration…
But also the context of family outside the household (see also book by Castles & Miller)
…and this seems to hold even in Sweden (maybe the world’s most individualized country)
College 9;
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Highly skilled migrants :
 Higher-educated
 Above average wage
 Nationally or internationally scarce expertise
 Economically or socially important sectors
Effects of HSM: destination country
 Economic factor
- Contribute to economic growth & innovation
- Increase production capability
- New forms of innovation and entrepreneurship
- Demographic factor (NB! Only short- to mid-run effects)
 Population decline, ageing
 Shortage on the labour market
Effects of HSM: source country
› Brain drain?
› Brain gain?
› Remittances
› Investments
› Technology transfer
› Circulation of expertise, international professional networks
Conclusions
Life course alters the purely economically determined migration path:
› Timing
 Parallel careers (?)
 Postponement of events
› Linked lives
 Parents
 Spouse
 Social and professional network
› Gender
 Direction of causality
Summary
› Definition: skills vs qualifications
› Economic theories vs life course approach
› Policies: attracting high-skilled migrants (also back)  but: influence on migrants’ lives!
› Migrant biographies: context