London School of Economics and Political Science
The Migration Studies Unit Inaugural Lecture
Migration and Social Transformation
Professor Stephen Castles
University of Oxford
Chair: Professor David Held
London School of Economics and Political Science
Ambivalent consequences
for migration studies
Positive
– Growing need for data collection, research, analysis
– Socially-relevant: addresses needs of migrants,
affected communities, civil society, governments.
– Migration studies is: ‘policy-relevant’, ‘engaged with
users’, ‘in the national interest’
Negative
– Research is policy-driven
– Focus on short-term policy concerns of governments
and international agencies
– Funders determine research questions, methods,
even findings
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Contents
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Migration policy failure; role of migration studies
Politicisation of migration
‘Conventional wisdoms’ about migration today
New directions in migration theory
Social transformation as an analytical framework
Consequences for:
– Theory
– methods
– organisation of research
• Revisiting some ‘conventional wisdoms’
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Migration policy failure
US attempts to prevent irregular migration from Mexico
– IRCA 1986
– Operation Gatekeeper 1994
 12m irregular residents
Australia’s postwar migration program,
 now one of the world’s most diverse countries
Germany’s guestworker program
 family reunion, settlement, new ethnic minorities
Temporary migration policies in Asia
 already leading to longer stay and greater diversity
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Social science
and migration
‘Methodological nationalism’:
– Nation-state as frame: national models:
– Control and integration of ‘dangerous’ classes
Assimilation:
– ‘Forgetting difference vital to national identity (Renan)
– ‘Rationality’ = giving up ‘pre-industrial’ culture (Weber)
– ‘Re-socialisation’ into ‘modern norms’ (Park)
Neo-classical economic theory:
– focus on individual income maximisation
Disciplinary fragmentation
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The politicisation of
migration research
International migration is at the crux of the
contradiction between:
• The national principle of sovereignty: right
of states to control cross-border flows
• Transnational principle of global mobility:
– Flows of capital and commodities crucial to
the ‘new economy’
– Flows of people and cultures: seen as a threat
to the nation-state
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The walls you can’t see
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Biometrics
Restrictive asylum policies
Visa requirements
Carrier sanctions: turning airline staff into
immigration officials
• ‘Safe third countries’
• Surveillance of minorities: ‘the enemy
within’
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Differentiation
• Privileged entry and status for highly-skilled and
entrepreneurs
• Containment of refugees and exclusion of
asylum seekers
• ‘Side-doors’ for less-skilled:
– New guestworkers
– Working holidaymakers etc.
• Undocumented entry and employment: preferred
by many employers and governments
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New policy directions
National:
• Special ministries, task forces, agencies
• Labour market policies
• Laws and institutions for iIntegration, social cohesion
European Union
• Towards common policies on migration and asylum
• Exporting border control – e.g. Rabat 2006
Global:
• GCIM – Global Commission on International Migration
• HLD – Highly Level Dialogue on Mig. and Dev. 2006
• GFMD – Global Forum on Migration and Dev. 2007
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Some new
conventional wisdoms
• South-North migration is a problem to be fixed
by dealing with ‘root causes’ (poverty, violence)
• Migration can drive development
– through remittances, technology transfer, diaspora
actions and return migration
• Circular migration is a ‘win-win-win’ situation
– Receiving countries get workers but no new settlers
– Migrants gain economically
– Origin countries gain through development support
• Compulsory integration leads to social cohesion
and eliminates diversity and transnationalism
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Migration theory 1950-90s:
dual divides
Explaining mobility
Incorporation in society
Neo-classical theory:
• Individual income motive
• Human capital
• Equilibrium hypothesis
Historical-institutional theory
• Colonialism /Dependency
• World systems
• Labour for capital
• Perpetuating inequality
Exclusionary identities
• Guestworker systems
• Temporary adaptation
Inclusionary assimilation
• Individual citizenship
• Adopting dominant
culture
Multiculturalism
• Cultural recognition
• Equality and anti-racism
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Migration theory 1970s – 2000s
New approaches
Explaining mobility
Incorporation in society
Transitional theories
• Zelinsky: mobility transition
• Martin: migration hump
• Skeldon: ‘development
tiers’
Migration and development
• Remittances
• Social remittances
• Brain circulation
• Diasporas
Integration /neo-assimilation
• Diversity erodes social
capital
• ‘Parallel lives’ and security
• Integration,social cohesion
• ‘Core values’, citizenship
Diversity / multiculturalism
• Multiple identities
• Cosmopolitan cities
• Transnationalism
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Theoretical synthesis: Studying the
migratory process as a whole
Migration as part of the linkages between societies
• New economics of labour migration (NELM)
• Dual/segmented labour market theory
• Migration networks
• Migration as a social process
• Transnational theory
• Structural dependency on migration (of both
origin and receiving countries)
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Migration theory and
social theory
• Overcoming split between:
– Development studies in origin countries
– Incorporation studies in receiving countries
• Overcoming the structure-agency dichotomy
– Political economy of global change
– Ethnography and sociology of transnational groups
• Combining quantitative and qualitative research
• Migration both result and cause of social change
• Embedding migration research in study of
globalisation and social transformation
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Globalisation as social
transformation
• Social transformation: fundamental change in
social structure and relationships
• Result of ‘step changes’ in dominant
economic or political relationships
• Global reconfiguration of economies and
politics transforms all societies and relations
between them
• Central tasks for social science:
– analysing processes of social transformation
– examining how global changes are mediated
by local cultures and histories
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Social transformation
drives South-North Migration
South:
North
• Changes in rural work
and life: more inequality
• Rural-urban migration:
– Unemployment
– Poverty
• Undemocratic states
– Conflict and violence
– Lack of human rights
• Structural adjustment
erodes public services
• Economic restructuring
 EMIGRATION
– Decline of old industries
– Unemployment
– Deskilling
• Neo-liberal model
– Weakens communities
– erodes welfare states
• Fertility decline; ageing
• New demands for labour:
– High-skilled and low-skilled
IMMIGRATION
 Immigrants as symbol of
globalisation
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Globalisation transforms
conditions for migration
Technology:
• Cheaper transport  repeated/cyclical mobility
• Electronic communication  migrant links with home
Culture
• Global media: images of western life-styles
• Cultural capital facilitates mobility
Migrant networks
• Organising migration flows and job-finding
Transnational communities
From once-in-a-lifetime migration to
 mobility as a life strategy
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Studying social
transformation: theory
• Focus on global connectivity
– How international economic, political or military
factors change communities and societies
everywhere
• Study of transnational processes
• Multi-level units of analysis
– Local, national, regional global
– Mediation between the levels as key theme
• Historically and culturally sited investigation
• Relating structure and action
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Methodological principles
• Interdisciplinarity
• Quantitative research to understand macro-social
change
• Historical understanding of sending, transit and
receiving societies
• Comparative studies
• Holistic approach: embeddedness of migration in
social transformation processes
• Studying the agency of migrants and communities
requires
– Participatory research to include the perspectives
of diverse actors
– Qualitative research to understand migration
processes and their social meanings
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Organisation of research
• Building transnational research networks
– Overcoming nationalist and colonialist past by
working with colleagues in sending and transit
countries
• Overcoming linguistic / cultural barriers
– Key concepts have culturally specific meanings
• Engaged and collaborative research
– Working with communities
– civil society organisations
– Policy-makers and practitioners
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Conventional wisdoms
revisited - 1
South-North migration is a problem to be fixed by
dealing with the ‘root causes’
• Helps support global governance strategies that impose
western values and free markets
• Reducing poverty and conflict will lead to more – not less
- migration
Migration can drive development
• A new version of modernisation theory’s ‘trickle-down’
principle: Let the poor pay for development
• Migration alone does not lead to development
• Migration can be a part of sustainable development
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Conventional wisdoms
revisited - 2
Circular migration is a ‘win-win-win’ situation
• Some (temporary) migrants will become settlers
• Migrants do not benefit if they are denied equal rights
• Sending countries only benefit if migration is part of an
integrated development strategy
Compulsory integration leads to social cohesion
• Globalisation leads to greater cultural diversity (with or
without migration)
• Strategies to enforce integration and cohesion are likely
to lead to racism and conflict
• Transnationalism is a consequence of globalisation and
is sure to increase in future
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Conclusion
• Recent advances in migration theory offer
opportunities for bridging old divisions and
overcoming the marginalisation of migration
studies
• There is little evidence that decision-makers pay
much heed to such changes. They still are able
to chose the migration research that fits in with
their political needs.
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The end
Sooner or later, every wall will fall
Sooner or later, every wall will fall
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