Midterm Flashcards
Macro-structures
large-scale institutional factors
political economy of the owrld market
interstate relationships
efforts by the states to control migration
Micro-structures
family ties and beliefs of the migrants themselves
Meso-structures
ties together micro and macro structures through intermediate mechanisms
ex) migrant networks, immigrant communities, new business sectors catering to migrant networks
2 group migration theories can be broken into
functionalist and historical-structural theories
functionalist theory definition
tends to see society as a system, collection of interdependent parts where tendency toward equilibrium exists. generally treats migration as a positive phenomenon serving the interests of most people and contributing to greater equality within and between societies
historica-structuralist theory definition
rooted in neo-Marxist political economy. Emphasizes how social, economic, cultural and political structures constrain and direct the behavior of individuals in ways that generally reinforce disequilibria.
Argue that economic and political power is unequally distributed and that cultural beliefs (such as religion and tradition) and social practices tend to reproduce such structural inequalities.
See migration as providing cheap, exploitative labour force that serves the wealthy in receiving areas and causes a “brain drain” in origin areas
Examples of functionalist theories
push-pull models
neo-classical theory
push-pull models
Push:
population growth, population density, lack of economic opportunities, political repression
Pull:
demand for labor, availability of land, economic opps and political freedom
Critics
arbitrary.
difficulty explaining return migration and simultaneous occurrence of emigration and immigration.
each thing shouldn’t consider factors in isolation. for example, political repression does not necessarily result in migration
neo-classical theories
First to explain rural-urban migration
Sees migration as a function of geographical differences in the supply and demand for labor.
At micro-level, sees individuals as rational actors moving on the basis of a cost-benefit calculation to maximize income
At macro-level, view migration as a process which optimizes allocation of products in factors. Migration will send labor where it is scarce and send back capital in return. Help to make conditions in sending/receiving countries more equal and decrease incentive to migrate
Critiques of neo-classical theory
Downplays the role of the state and structural constraints
- Assumes that people are rational actors who want to maximize income or “utility” and that they have the resources to make an effective and complete cost-benefit analysis (knowing situation of wages, capital etc)
- Individualistic (portry humans as socially isolated individuals who passively and uniformly react to external factors) and ahistoric (does not regard kin, historic ties, colonialism etc.)
- Neglects historical causes of movements an downplays the role of the state
- Neglects standard of living and prices for food and housing
- Empirical evidence does not always support its presumptions: people moving from densely populated areas to sparsely populated ones
- Cant explain actual movements or predicting future ones even though in fact contrary to the theory, migration happens in patterns because of structural constraints such as social stratification, market access, power inequalities
Historical-structural theories
- Dependency Theory (50s)
- World Systems Theory (70s)
- Globalization Theory (90s)
Consider migration as one of the many manifestations of “Capitalist Penetration” and the unequal terms of trade between developed and underdeveloped countries
Sees migration as large-scale recruitment of labor and the exploitation of the third-world
Sees migrants as having no free choice and people are forced to move because traditional economic structures have been undermined as a result of their incorporation into the global political-economic system and concominant processes
Rural populations have become increasingly deprived of their traditional livelihoods, and these uprooted populations become part of the urban proletariat to the benefit of employers in urban areas and wealthy countries that rely on their cheap labor
• They criticize neo-classical approaches saying individual do not have a free choice as they are fundamentally constrained by structural forces
o Undermined due to their traditional economic structures due to their incorporation into global political-economic system and simultaneous processes like mechanization of agriculture, concentration of land-ownership, increasing indebtedness and dispossession of smallholder peasants
• Can’t get access to education, capital
• Criticized for being too passive, people can get money on their own!
• Ex) Green revolution. People who did not have capital to buy fertilizer had to move away. Conglomerated. Go and work for people with fertilizer or sell them their land
globalization theory
Migration as an intrinsic part of much broader relationships between societies
The widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life
Economic process and a political process
Economic: cross-border flows of capital, technology and services as well as the emergence of a new international division of labor
Political: (critics) not a new world order, but the latest phasein the evolution of the capitalist world economy. A new form of imperialism (ex: Mexican maquiladoras)
“Market liberalization, privatization and deregulation” keywords for ideology of globalization defining how the world should be reshaped
dual/segemted labor market theory
- Helps to find out how the demand for high and low skilled immigrant labor is structurally embedded in modern capitalist economies
- For Priore (79) international migration is caused by structural demand within advanced economies for both highly skilled workers and lower skilled manual workers to carry out production tasks and to staff service enterprises
- Growing importance of the tertiary (service) sector has triggered a demand for both highly qualified and low-skilled workers over recent decades
- Domestic supply of low-skill labor decline as women entered formal labor market and youngsters continue education for longer
- Dual labor market theory also shows the importance of institutional factors as well as race and gender in bringing about labor market segmentation
- Divided into primary and secondary labor markets (primary is the ‘elite’)
- Irregular status of migrants may actually serve employers’ interests as it creates a vulnerable, docile workforce. The public and widespread xenophobia and discrimination legitimize the exploitation of migrants
critiques of historical-structural theory
puts too much emphasis on political and economic structures
depicts migrants as victims of global capitalism who have no choice bu to migrate in order to survive
“myth of the immobile peasant”: capitalism wasn’t the first to uproot static, isolated, homogeneous peasant communities. Peasant societies were mobile, and they were often characterized by high mortality rates, conflict, famines and epidemics as well as extreme inequalities
New economics of labor migration (NELM)
• Migration decision is made by families or households not individuals
o Migration
• As a risk-sharing behavior of families, more than maximizing income
Not put all eggs in one basket
• As a family strategy to generate capital for economic activities (in an imperfect capital and risk market)
May not make more money, but steadier job market
• Migration as a response to becoming ‘relative well-off’ rather than absolute poverty
Rather than a response to emergencies and crises, migration is often practive, deliberate decisions to improve livelihoods and to reduce fluctuations in rural family incomes by making them less dependent on climatic vagaries
Network, transnational and migration systems theories
united by how migrants’ agency creates social, economic and structures at the micro- and meso- level
Get what neoclassical and historical-structural couldn’t get
- Study new ties, networks and identities formed thanks to migration and flow of information, money, ideas and goods
- Questions how migrants’ agency creates social, economic and cultural structures and how this provides feedback mechanism that help sustaining migration
- Factors like colonialism, occupation, conquest, labor recruitment, shared culture, language and geographical proximity often play a crucial role in the initiation of migration process
social capital theory
- Social capital is defined by the OECD as “networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups”
- It is about the social infrastructure that produces migration
- Do you know anyone in the place you are going to?
How migrants transform societies
• (Migrant til 70s were topics for economists (maybe sociologists)
o Therefore more economic theories)
a. Settlement and inception of migrants (formation of ethnic minorities, race as a social construct, gender)
o Ethnic minorities can be defined as groups
• That have been assigned a subordinate position in society by dominant groups based on physical appearance, race, origins or culture
• Have some degree of collective consciousness
Self-identify as a group based on religion, language
What is ethnicity?
o Ethnicity: is the sense of group belonging based on ideas of common origins, history, culture, experience and values. It is not homogeneous nor static
• Evolves based on how people identify themselves
o “Ethnicity only takes on social and political meaning when it is linked to processes of boundary-drawing between dominant groups and minorities”
What is race?
o Race: The visible markers of a phenotype” a social construct produced by racism”. Racism is the process where social groups categorize other groups as different or inferior, on the basis of phonotypical or cultural maker. The power of the dominant group is sustained by developing structures (such as laws, policies and administrative practices) that exclude or discriminate against the dominant group
nation
Nation is a belief system, based on collective cultural ties and sentiments that convey a sense of ID and belonging, which may be referred to as national consciousness
issues migration poses to nations
incorporation of the newcomers as citizens may undermine myths of cultural homogeneity; but failure may lead to divided societies, marked by severe inequality and conflict”
• Nation is built on homogeneity
• We are all French here
Link between notion of sovereignty-nation (or the people), belonging (citizenship)
citizenship
• Link between the state and the nation, defining who is a citizen, if/how newcomers can become citizens and what citizenship means. Citizenship designates the equality of rights of all citizens within a political community, and corresponding set of institutions guaranteeing these rights
o Citizens are embedded into nation
o Rights are a new invention
• French revolution
o Rise of bourgeoisie
• Have economic power, demand more rights
Type of citizenship
Imperial model Ethnic model Republican model Multicultural models Transnational model
Imperial model of citizenship
o Pre-French and American revolutions, being subject of the same ruler
• In effect in UK until 1980s
Ethnic model of citizenship
o Definition of belonging to the nation in terms of ethnicity, exclusion of minorities (Germany)
• Your blood is what counts
• Born to German parents in Russia, get German passport
• Born in Germany to Turkish parents and lived there for rest of life, but can’t get German citizenship
Republican model of citizenship
o Nation as a political community, based on constitution, laws and citizenship, with the possibility of admitting newcomers so long as they adhere to the political rules and are willing to adopt the national culture
Multicultural model of citizenship
o Similar to the republican model, defining the nation as political community, yet newcomers maintain their distinctive cultures and form ethnic communities, providing they conform to national laws (ex. Canada)
Transnational model of citizenship
o Still a mystery
o Multiple and differentiated forms of belonging with consequences for democratic institutions and political belonging in future
• Left: criticism. Nation-state time is ending. Only been effective for the last 2 centuries. Almost irrelevant. People have multiple nationalities etc.
• Transnational citizenship: only EU citizenship
• French could be running for European parliament from Luxemburg and vote in local elections in Luxemburg
migration effects on origin societies/states
• Does migration encourages development in the countries of origin or hinder it? (Brain drain v. brain gain)
o Brain drain
• State invests in you through free education for you
• You then leave to go work somewhere else
• Emigration often arises through development and social transformation, but inn turn brings further change in origin societies
• Remittances are instrumental improving conditions in home countries
• What is development? For Amartya Sen, it is the process of expanding the substantive freedoms that people enjoy – the ability of human beings to lead life they have reason to value and to enhance the substantive choices they have
• Thus the measurement for Sen should be if real capabilities of people to control their own lives have expanded – social transformation v progress at micro level
3 areas of political science research of migration
Control, security, incorporation
Control: : role of states regarding borders, what shapes capacity to control
Security: impact of migration on the institutions of sovereignty and citizenship; relation between migration and foreign policy and national security
o Sovereignty- dependent on having control over certain territory
o With migration, the state starts to lose control
Incorporation: how migration affect political behavior, citizenship, national identity, role of the state in incorporation
why international migration is relevant
• For triggering a sense of crisis that is beyond control of states and communities
o Although only 3% of the population is on the move, they cause many policy changes and social unrest at times
• Discussion focuses on 3 major issues
o Abundance or scarcity of resources
o Social or human capital of migrants
o How well they integrate to new societies
Dimensions of politics
o Distributional • Who gets what, when, how o Legal • Sovereignty and legitimacy o Normative • Justice and participation
3 schools of migration and IR
Realism
• What is happening inside state doesn’t matter
• Maximizing security
• Act as a state only no type of gov
Transnationalism
• More left on political system
• Transnational “clubs”
Liberal institutionalism
• Critical of nation-state
• Nation-state will disappear and we will evolve to something else
• States are not unitary
• Unpack national interest and look at multiplicity of social economic groups which compete to influence states
History of migration
Age of discovery and colonialism (15-18th century)
• Extracting resources
1850-1914
• Age of mass migration in Europe and North America
1914
• Times of xenophobia, economic stagnation and restrictions
o WWI
1945-1970s
• Time of rapid and sustained economic growth and the age of new migration, emergence of guest migration systems and colonial workers
• Migration encouraged
o Guest workers were welcomed
• Temporary migration
Post 1970s
• Age of globalization, restriction and transition
• 1973: oil crisis
After 1945: keep the capital of production in the developed world
After 1970s: get rid of restrictions, make as globalized as possible
From the end of the Middle Ages, the development of European states and their colonization of the rest of the world triggered a new wave of migration in different forms
In Western Europe migration was important part of social and economic life since mid 17th century. It played a vital role in modernization and industrialization. The period of 1950 to 1914 was the time of mass migration in Europe and N America
Chattel slavery
o 1650-1850 *as forerunner of modern labor migration
o It was the basis of commodity production in the plantations and mines of the new world
o Forced migration
o People left land because they couldn’t keep up with slave owners
• Go to urban areas (urbanization)
Paired with industrialization
o Chattel slavery prompted triangular trade
o By 1770 there were nearly 2.5 million slaves in the Americas producing a third of total value of European commerce
triangular trade
Goods from Europe go to W African taking slaves and heading to Caribbean and America where slaves were sold for cash that was used to buy plantation products then shipped back to Europe
When was slavery abolished?
1807 in the UK, 1865 US south
• Indentured workers replaced slaves after mid 19th century. They remained as free settlers in East Africa, the Caribbean and else where (12 to 37 million workers between 1834 and 1941 was involved)
what was unique about colonialism?
• Motive was the emergence of global empires, constructing a world market, dominated by merchant capital
• Slaves were part of this market, bought and sold by specialized traders
• “Slaves were economic property and were subjected to harsh forms of control to maximize their output”
• By late 19th century slavery was replaced by indentured workers (cheaper than slaves for employers)
• Merchant capitalism is distinguished from capitalism by the lack of industrialization of commercial finance. This is the stage of capital accumulation that prepared the groundwork for industrial capitalism
o Revenue was used for industrialization
Industrialization and migration to N America before 1914
- Industrial revolutions of 18th and 19th century enabled by capital accumulation as a result of colonialism. Profits from the colonies were invested in new forms of manufacture and commercial farming (as a result of enclosure)
- Open field system vs. enclosure leading to displaced farmers
- Displaced farmers moved to urban cities and became laborers. Artisans also joined them as wage earners
- Peak of industrial revolution was the main period of British migration to America: between 1800 and 1860, 66% of migrants were from Britain and 22% were German
