EQ1 – What are the impacts of globalisation on international migration?
Globalisation has caused extremely significant changes in the global economic system, changing the pattern of demand for labour.
Rural to urban migration in China: International migration inside the EU and Schengen area:
- China’s 1978 Open Door policy allowed for FDI and encouraged TNC - Free movement of labour and capital within the EU has fuelled a core-periphery pattern, the EU
investment due to a large and cheap labour force being made core of N. France and W. Germany. Economic migrants from eastern and southern Europe flow
available. This allowed for prospering 30 years of rapid economic towards this core.
growth in China. - Movement without showing passports can lead to issues such as growing nationalist movements
. and 250 million Chinese have moved within China since
- Between 150 such as AfD in Germany and cultural erosion in some areas. Racist attacks and hostility towards
1978, from rural to urban coastal areas for work in this labour force. immigrants.
- UK right to work challenges the free movement to maintain sovereignty.
Between 3–4% of the global population live outside their country of birth but this proportion varies greatly between countries because of different policies relating to
international migration and levels of engagement with the global economy.
Global hubs in Singapore: liberal migration rules due to its ethnically diverse population because of British colonial past and well positioned trading hub in Asia. They recognise
‘foreign workers’ and ‘foreign talents’ and it is questioned around the treatment of ‘foreign workers’ living in crowded dormitories, are paid poorly and have few rights within the
country.
Japan has strict migration where less than 2% are foreign despite it being a global hub it is hard for migrants to settle permanently. Nationality laws makes it difficult to acquire
Japanese citizenship and it is an elusive goal of passing the test which has less than 1% pass rate or you go home. Critics say they may need to loosen this as the ageing population
may become an issue.
Australia operates on an economic points-based system where only 160k economic migrants were granted access from 2018-19 and almost 50% were from China, the UK and India.
Up until 1973, government selected migrants largely on racial and ethnic basis often called the ‘White Australia’ policy.
Core periphery is said to cause a ‘trickle-down’ effect of wealth rather than causing inequalities or
European migrant crisis 2014-19: disparities, critics say that free movement causing this causes peripheral regions to lose out.
- Between 2014 and 2019, 2 million migrants crossed the Mediterranean
Sea or overland by Turkey and Greece to enter Europe. Some 20,000 died Free movement at the national scale: internal migration within the UK:
on the journey through using unsafe boats. - Deindustrialised North and economic growth in and around London.
- Many from Syria escaping war with no papers so their origins and travel - Creation of wealth centred around certain areas, cumulative causation of more jobs in South due to
history are unclear, most are refugees, but challenges are posed if they are connections to global economy. Core-periphery model
economic migrants. Political reaction of accepting asylum seekers across - Rising costs of doing business in the capital have sometimes triggered out-migration.
the EU. The ‘shrinking world’ allows these migrants to communicate and - Redistributive government policies can be used but finance only available through globalisation and
make their transport easier especially where claims may not be genuine. private sector investment elsewhere.
Free movement at the international scale: migration from Poland to other EU states:
Poland’s government has encouraged its population to work overseas and make the most of EU membership, but Poland has lost population every year since the 1960’s, with the
trend accelerating since 2004. A low birth rate and ageing population means that Poland’s population is expected to age and shrink. Few people migrate to Poland with the lowest
foreign-born population of any EU state. While remittances compensate for the labour loss and brain drain the short term, there is no guarantee they will still be sent, Children of
polish migrants in the UK feel more connected to the UK. By 2050, there may be only 1.3 working people for each child or elderly compared to 1.75 today.
, Causes of migration:
Environmental: Economic: Political:
- Climate change is causing refugees in regions where agriculture is - Global financial crisis 2007 had an unprecedented - New conflict can change global
threatened. Syria’s refugee crisis has part been caused by effect on migration. First time since 1945, world GDP migrant flows. Since WW2, political
desertification, identified by US Pentagon. shrank. Net migration from Poland fell to its lowest regime changes have prompted ethnic
- Climate change acts are to intensify poverty rurally, movers who since the 1950’s. Realisation that this could happen in groups to flee states. Now more
may have been previously categorized as economic migrants are now the future puts caution on global migration. important than globalisation.
environmental refugees.
Migration changes the cultural and ethnic composition of nation states but the rate of assimilation of migrants varies from nation to nation especially when there are
distinctive ethnic differences.
Assimilation: the eventual adoption of the cultural traits belonging to a host of majority community by a migrant or minority community.
National identity linked to Pew Research Data:
- National identity may be challenged in terms of what is accepted within their society. For example, lots of Eastern European migrants may spread views of homophobia when
coming to the UK due to strong views on homosexuality but if more instances of assimilation take place this will not happen as British culture which forms national identity is
accepted. (Possible links to free movement within the EU previously as people may become more attached to British identity and not associate with Eastern Europe or send
remittances etc.)
- If a country is already well integrated and diverse, they may not feel as at risk or threatened to lose their national identity when more people move freely into the country or
migrate into the country in large swathes or diasporas. Therefore, assimilation will more easily occur in a more diverse nation, yet where this does not happen, we are more likely
to see conflict occurring.
Example: German AfD
- Right-wing, nationalist part gained votes inn election following German acceptance of Syrian migrants, Angela Merkel was no longer as popular due to this move as many
German people felt their national identity was under attack. This can be categorised as right-wing exclusion within Europe.
Migration across the Mexico-US border:
USA today President Obama had the view of offering 8 million unauthorised workers living in the US work permits. In contrast, President Trump demand that a wall was built
along the Mexican border to stop illegal migrants from Central America from heading north in large numbers.
Due to this US citizens often have divided views, particularly where some face the impacts of this migration more than others. The issues that divide US public opinion include:
- Economic impacts: migrants are a key part of the US economy’s growth. From New York’s kitchens to California’s vineyards, legal and illegal migrants work long hours for low
pay. However, high unemployment in some cities has led to calls for American jobs to be given to American citizens instead.
- National security: the terrorist attacks of 9/11 heightened new security concerns. Support grew for the ‘Tea Party’ movement. In 2016, Donald Trump suggested that all Muslims
should be banned from entering the USA. Many people found this deeply offence, yet Trump insisted he was simply thinking of ways to safeguard national security.
- Demographic impacts: youthful migration offset the costs of an ageing population. However, there are higher birth rates of some immigrant communities changing the ethnic
population composition of the USA. In 1950, 3 million US citizens were Hispanic and today this around 60 million, 1/5 of the population.
- Cultural change: migrants change places with food, music and language. Hispanic culture is affecting the content of US media in offering Spanish-language soap operas on
services like Netflix.
