Migration Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is migration?
Migration is the movement of people in (immigration) or out (emigration) of a country.
It accounts for 43% of the growth in the UK population.
What was immigration in the first half of the 20th century generally?
- Irish, mainly for economic reasons.
- Eastern and Central European Jews often refugees fleeing persecution.
- Very few immigrants during this period were non-white.
What was immigration between the 1950s and 70s
- Main group of migrants included black immigrants from the Caribbean.
- Migrant groups that followed were from South Africa, India, Pakistan etc.
What was immigration between the 1990s
- Largest groups of migrants have come from the EU (French, Italian and Spanish, and Eastern Europe (Polish, Lithuanians)
- However since Brexit, approx 400,000 EU citizens have left the UK.
What factors affect migration?
- Globalisation.
- Legislation and Border controls.
- Push and Pull Factors.
What is globalisation?
Globalisation refers to the increasing interconnectedness of societies (Giddens)
How does globalisation affect migration?
Britain’s modern history involved migration through colonialist expansion and slavery. Global media, deregulation of financial markets and the fall of communism and EU expansion has helped increased migration.
What are some statistics around globalisation and migration?
Due to ease of movement, from the EU, alongside transport and technology has allowed us to move people as well as money.
This has ultimately increased net migration to the UK to 500,000 in 2021.
Over 250,000 migrants to the UK each year are overseas students.
how does Legislation and Border controls affect migration?
Since 1921, the UK and Ireland have a shared common travel area allowing for the free movement of people.
The Commonwealth Immigration acts 1962, and 1968 limited immigration from the Caribbean and Asia (Windrush generation)
Asylum Act 199 made it harder to seek asylum in the UK.
How does Push and Pull factors affect migration?
Push factors are negative issues in the country of origin that forces people to move.
Pull factors are positive issues in the destination country that attracts migrants.
What examples of Push factors (emigration)?
- War.
- Lack of safety.
- Low Employment.
- Poverty.
- Famine
What examples of Pull factors (immigration)?
- Higher wages.
- Less crimes.
- Better services.
- Political stability.
- Higher employment
What does Cohen split migration into?
He splits migrants into 3 categories.
- Citizen Migrants
- Denizen Migrants.
- Helot Migrants.
What are citizen migrants?
Citizen migrants are migrant with full citizenship rights (voting, and access to benefits)
The UK state has made it harder for immigrants to acquire these rights.
What are Denizen migrants?
Denizen migrants are privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state.
Example: billionaire ‘oligarchs’ or highly paid employees from multi-national companies.
What are Helot migrants?
Literally slaves. The most exploited group. States and employers regard them as ‘disposable units of labour power’.
They are found in unskilled, poorly paid work and include illegally trafficked workers or domestic servants.
What gender are migrants most today?
Almost half of all global migrants are women.
This is not necessarily empowering for women. Instead they are exploited for their expressive role, that can be economically taken advantage of.
What did Hothschild identify as the four reasons for the feminisation of migration
- Failure of the state to provide adequate childcare.
- Western men remain unwilling to perform domestic labour.
- Western women have joined the labour force, and so are less willing/able to perform domestic labour.
- The expansion of service occupations in western countries had led to an increasing demand for female labour.
What is the evaluation of the feminisation of migration?
This has resulted in women from overseas filling the void left behind because UK women are becoming more empowered.
BAME must take on the expressive role and step in for women who are becoming instrumental - criticising liberal feminists.
This would support the Marxist feminist belief that women are a reserve army of labour - a reserve for other women, just not men.
