Transcript Diapositiva 1

Who are immigrants?
What are the causes of
migrations? (chapters 1 and 2)
Maurizio Ambrosini, University of Milan, editor of the
journal “Mondi migranti”
Definition
• An immigrant is a person who moved to a foreign country,
and who have been there for more than one year (UN)
• Three elements:
 Moving
 Crossing a national border
 For a prolonged period of time (1 year or more)
• Problems:
 Internal migrants
 Seasonal immigrant workers
 Second generations
The double Otherness of migrants
• We do not define a person coming from US,
Switzerland or Japan “immigrant”, even though
he/she is included in the definition quoted
above
• We do not name a businessperson, or a
football champion “immigrant”, even though
he/she comes from a country of the Global
South
• Immigrants are people framed as “poor” and
“strangers”
A dynamic vision
• Italian, Spanish, Greek migrants in
Northern Europe have improved their legal
status and social representation over time
• Citizens of EU new member countries are
doing the same
• The economic development has similar
effects in legal treatment and social
acceptance
Superdiversity?
• The difficulty in the acceptance of people perceived as “the
Others” is linked with the perception of a deep break of
the social order and of the homogeneity of the Nation
• we are obliged to live with people who are different
because of their language, citizenship, religion, cultural
habits…
• Our social landscape is perceived as radically altered
• These differences are combined with a social stigma: these
people are seen as “inferior”
• The term “immigrant” comes to imply a pejorative
meaning
Different types of migrants
• Economic migrants
• Seasonal migrants (now: “circular migrants”, in a “triple
win” scenario)
• Skilled migrants and investors
• Migrants for family reasons (or “secondary migrations”)
• Second generations (are they immigrants?)
• Asylum seekers and refugees
• Irregular migrants, clandestines, victims of traffick
• Return migrants
The historical periods of international
migrations in contemporary history
• 1830-1914: transatlantic migrations from Europe
• 1914-1945: refugees and first regulations
• 1945-1960: new refugees and reconstruction after
the war
• 1960-1974: migrations towards Northern Europe
and economic development
• 1974-now: restriction, selection, free circulation in
the EU, irregular migrations
Four trends in contemporary
migrations (Castles and Miller)
•
•
•
•
Globalization
Acceleration
Diversification
Feminization
Phases or stages of migrations
• 1) First arrivals: young workers, without families,
with the proposal to stay temporarily
• 2) New arrivals, workers even now. People with
less resources, but sponsored by the “hubs”. Time
extends
• 3) Family reunions: spouses and children arrive,
Immigrants settle
• 4) Formation of ethnic minorities. Political and
cultural demands. Creation of ethnic institutions
Causes of migrations: the debate
on the explanations
Why migrations occur?
1) Macro-structural explanations. Push and pull factors.
Expulsion and attraction. Supply and demand of
migrants
2) Micro-subjective explanations. Migrations as rational
choices of people and families
3) Meso-social explanations. Migrant networks and
institutions. Political regulation (Macro-meso level)
Macro-structural explanation: the
supply side
• Explanation based on push factors:
demographic studies. Overpopulation,
poverty, unemployment. Concept of
“migratory pressure”
• Neo-marxist theories of dependency
• Globalization theories
• Systemic theories (various types of links)
Poverty and emigration
There is a clear link between migration and
inequalities in the economic development of
the world
But only very few migrants come from the
poorest countries of the world
Migrants do not come from the poorest classes of
their countries, even if there are differences
between the nearer and the further countries
Migration requires resources: economic,
social, cultural capital
Most of migrants have a middle class
background
Macro-structural theories: the
demand side
• Explanations based on pull factors: The
demand by the economic systems of
receiving countries
• Marxist theory of migrants as “reserve
army”
• The dual labour market theory (M.Piore)
• The global cities theory (S.Sassen)
Criticisms of the macro-structural
explanations
• Migrants are considered as passive victims: they
move around the world because of structural,
overwhelming forces
• Autonomy and agency of migrants are neglected
• These theories do not explain why, among the
people exposed to the same pressures, some leave,
but many others do not leave
• The normative regulation is not considered
Micro-subjective explanations
• Explanations related to neo-classical economics:
migrants as rational actors, as investors.
• They are considered individualistic, selfish, and
their aim is to maximize their personal interest
• Economic reasons (income) as the main factors of
migratory choices
• New economics of migrations: families as
decision makers. Migrations always seen as
rational choice, but taken by families and oriented
towards the well-being of the whole family unit
Criticisms of the micro-subjective
explanations
• Problems of completeness and transparency of
information
• Choices of destination are not strictly connected with the
best economic opportunities, they do not target only the
richest countries
• Lack of consideration of non economic factors of
migrations
• Even in this case, the normative regulation is neglected
• Different interests, visions and power inside migrant
families (gender and generations matter)
Meso-social explanations
• Migrant networks: importance of connections
among migrants, non migrants, potential
migrants, as “social bridges” between the two
shores of migratory movement.
• Migratory institutions: not only networks, but a
large complex of actors, formal and informal
agencies, non profit and for profit organizations,
legal and even illegal organizations, that foster
departure, passage, working insertion and
settlement of migrants
Criticisms of meso-social
explanations
• They well explain why migrations continue, not
the reasons why they begin
• Again, the normative regulation is neglected
• Explanations based on networks emphasize the
informal dimension
• They often overlook the negative aspects of
networks
• Explanations based on institutions put together
too many different things
Regulation: a meso-macro
explanation
• Growing salience of laws and international
agreements regulating human mobility
• Tighter control of political borders (above all, after 2001)
• Destination countries try to select migrants whom they
consider more suitable or easy to accommodate
• Irregular immigration, grey areas of unclear legal status
• search for “side doors” as a result of tighter regulations
• Civic stratification of migrants: different statuses and
rights
Criticisms of regulation theories
• They explain how migrations occur, but
they do not explain why they occur
• Most of them do not take into account the
side
effects
and
the
unintended
consequences of normative regulation
(mainly, restrictions of mobility)
Conclusion
• We need a multi-causal explanation: a
single factor (or variable) is not enough
• A general theory of migration is probably
unsustainable: different fluxes can
depend on different factors
• We can identify a typical dilemma in social
theory here: structure versus agency, and
the search for bridges between them