People Moving Around

 

Migration Definitions

          Internal Migration – When people move within a country

       Rural to Urban Migration – When people leave the countryside, and go to cities

          Emigration – When you leave a country to live somewhere else

          Immigration – When you arrive in a country from somewhere else.

 

International Migration: Not a new thing

          Not a new phenomenon:

       1846-1939: 59 million people (mostly) voluntarily emigrated from Europe

      To the United States (and Canada):

     First Wave, thru 1890 from Northern and Western Europe
     Second Wave, 1890-1920 from Southern and Eastern Europe

      Italians, Spaniards, Germans and Austrians to Brazil and Argentina.  Brits and Germans to Australia, Dutch and Brits to Southern Africa

      Also, Lebanese to Brazil & Latin America, French East Africa and U.S.

      Chinese to US; Japanese to US, Peru, and Brazil

      Plus the South Asian Diaspora (more in a few slides)

       Of course, millions were not voluntarily taken from Africa

 

What is new since 1970’s?

          New trends: intensity and extent

       Major receivers grew from 39 to 67

      Persian Gulf and Eastern Asia new

       Major senders grew from 29 to 55

      China is the largest sender

      Almost all U.S. immigration from Latin America and Asia

      Western Europe, Canada now send relatively few

     Europe a major receiver – big conflicts in unitary nationalist states (ie France) that have to deal with diversity for the first time
     Canada a highly sought after destination due to health care/tolerance/open economy

      Countries with young populations always have been high senders, now it is non-West, not Europe

       ˝ of all international migrants are female

      Pre WWII most migrants male or families

       Changing thought about Migrants

      They are not individual rationale actors, but often migrate as part of household strategy, where maintenance of the multi-generational family is important

 

Late 20th Century
Factors for Migration

          Growing economic inequalities between countries

          End of the Cold War sends people out of former Soviet areas looking for opportunity

          Political instability (e.g. Balkans, Iraq, Horn of Africa)

          Demographic differences between youthful and aging societies

       Old societies need many low and high paid service workers to survive; young societies need jobs

          Environmental deterioration and its impacts on agrarian livelihoods

          Cheaper, more widespread air transport

       More channels to send remittances

 

Quasi-migration

          Guest workers: individuals who migrate, often legally, to “temporarily” to take up jobs in other countries

       Most common today in oil-rich Persian Gulf, where they are the majority

       Jobs often given on a limited time contract by a sponsor, not allowed to change jobs before contract is up

       Employers often hold passports, even if illegal

       Being floated in U.S. to help protect worker rights by giving those who want to work official recognition without permanent residence

 

More Definitions (Yeah!)

          Remittances: money sent home by immigrants to support their family members left behind; a principal source of foreign exchange for many countries

          Diaspora: the spatial dispersion of an ethnic group

          Chain Migration: When people migrate to where other members of their social network are already established

       Most migration works like this, easiest for getting permission, established

       Why ethnic communities are concentrated in a few places, and not dispersed in the first generation

          Circular Migration: Refers to the fact that many migrants are temporary, plan to return home

 

The Importance of Remittances

              Less than $2B in 1970 to $150B in 1995 to $300 billion in 2006

              Developing Countries, often one of largest income generators

          India, 25 billion

          Mexico, 24 billion

          China, 21 billion

          Philippines, 15 billion

          Russia, 13 billion

          Eritrea, 39%; Tajikistan, 37%; Laos, 34%; Kyrgyzstan, 31%; Palestine 30%; Guyana, 30%; Afghanistan, 29%; Lebanon 25%

         Many war torn countries depend on these

              5 Countries Paying 80% of Remittances in 1995

           Saudi Arabia $16.6B

           US $12.2B

           Germany $5.3B

           France $3.1B

           UK $2.7 billion

              Depending on region up to 12% of money sent is taken by those doing exchange transmission

           Debit cards; prepaid cards have better fees, rates

 

D-Fine

       Refugee: those who leave their home country because of persecution or fear of persecution, or because of loss of habit due to war or environmental change

       Internally Displaced Person: Same as refugee, but stays with country

       Asylees: Same as refugee, but have been granted official status (assylum) by their host government

 

Refugees

          20.8 mil. Refugees, asylum seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons in 2005.

       Columbia: 3.5 million (mostly internally displaced)

       Iraq: 3.5 million displaced, refugees in Jordan, Syria, Iran

       Afghanistan: 2,7 million; Sudan, DR Congo, Uganda (all around 2 million)

      Palestinians, if counted, largest at 4 million

       Receivers: Pakistan: over 2 million refugees. Syria and Iran: over 1 million refugees each; Jordan is just under 1 million

      These are not rich countries

      Gets Iraq and Afghanistan

       United States, Canada, France, Austria major recipients of non-bordering refugees

     Sweden also takes in a large share relative to its population

 

South Asian Diaspora

          Includes all South Asian countries

       Largest group is 5 to 6M people known as NRI’s (Non-Reseident Indians)

          Origins with abolition of slavery in the British Empire (1833) and need for inexpensive labor

          Mid 19th century—thousands left India for work on plantations and other industries (building railroads)

          By 1920, there were:

        over 1M in Burma; 600,000 in Malay; 300,000 in the Caribbean; 200,000 in South Africa; 100,000 in East Africa; 20,000 in Britain; 5000 in North America

 

South Asian Diaspora

          ‘Brain drain’ over the last few decades

       1960s: Physicians and scientists to Britain

       Accelerated as South Asian university students stayed on in Britain and North America for better-paying jobs

       Living abroad gained popularity with middle class Indians due media stories of successful Indian immigrants

      For example, Indian families originally from Gujarat own over 50% of franchises of Days Inn, Econolodge, Comfort Inn, and Super Eight in the United States

       1990s: Computer scientists and software engineers left India for US and Europe

      (Ex. Microsoft Redmond campus—2000 of 15,000 are South Asian)

      This is reversing with growth of Bangalore, etc.

       Now the wealthiest ethnic group in the United States

 

South Asian Diaspora

          Cultural contributions beginning to seep into global popular culture

       Bollywood films finally getting an audience outside Indian community

      Summer of 2002 called Britain’s “Indian Summer”

      Very popular in East Africa, Southeast Asia

       South Asian food, fashion becoming popular in U.S.

      Food long popular in Britain, dominated by Bangladeshis

          South Asian migrant culture also said to be a “hybrid” culture, where migrants blend into culture generally while still keeping in contact with home culture

       Satellite Channels, Temples, Weddings, Student Associations all institutions used to  maintain national feeling

 

 

Cultures not sold in Yogurt

 

Keep in Mind

          Nedvereen Pieterse “What globalization means in structural terms… is the increase in the available modes of organization; transnational, international, macro-regional, municipal, local… crisscrossed by functional networks of corporations, international organizations, and NGO’s”

       This is important because it shows cultural dominance is not simply “U.S. crushes globe.”

 

Culture and Trade

          Within trade agreements, there is often an exemption for cultural products

       For example, GATT, Uruguay Round, kept free trade from being applied to cultural products

          MPAA worked with state department (called “little state department) to remove restrictions for American films

       Promoting “American Consumption” through media seen as a powerful foreign policy tool

          Post-WWII, as prelude to EEC, began to get co-production agreements for films within Europe, as well as France’s protectionist Blum-Byrnes agreement

       Art house success defines European cinema more than mass market success

 

Canada: More than Maple Syrup?

          Because Canada is a small market, speaking the same language as a much larger neighbor, if left to its own devices, Canada would have very little local media production

      This is called “market failure”

       CBC was formed during era of radio to make sure there would be news from a Canadian prospective

       In the 1960’s, public agitated for, and received government aid for film production and publishing

      Not just the national governments, but provincial governments in Quebec, Ontario, etc.

       There are also broadcast quotas, which means a certain % of material aired must be Canadian in origin

 

Oh… Canada (cont.)

       Maintaining “cultural sovereignty” is sometimes seen as a national security issue

       In NAFTA, Canada was given a “cultural exception” – only it allowed US to retaliate in other non-cultural areas

      Worried this was prioritizing culture over other sectors

      Special rates for Canadian magazines got eliminated, but because of production quotas, Canada has become the third largest exporter of TV behind U.S. and Britain

     This means most subsidies go to things that can be consumed internationally, as opposed to performing arts, which must be consumed locally