London School of Economics and Political Science The Migration Studies Unit Inaugural Lecture Migrat

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London School of Economics and Political
ScienceThe Migration Studies Unit Inaugural
LectureMigration and Social TransformationProf
essor Stephen CastlesUniversity of
OxfordChair Professor David HeldLondon
School of Economics and Political Science
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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

• 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
• Australias postwar migration program,
• ? now one of the worlds most diverse countries
• Germanys 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 cant see

• 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
• Neo-classical theory
• Individual income motive
• Human capital
• Equilibrium hypothesis
• Historical-institutional theory
• Colonialism /Dependency
• World systems
• Labour for capital
• Perpetuating inequality

• Incorporation in society
• 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
• Transitional theories
• Zelinsky mobility transition
• Martin migration hump
• Skeldon development tiers
• Migration and development
• Remittances
• Social remittances
• Brain circulation
• Diasporas

• Incorporation in society
• 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
• 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
• ? EMIGRATION

• North
• Economic restructuring
• 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 transformsconditions 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 theorys
  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