A full summary of the course Summary Migration & Citizenship (7332B005AY) at the UvA. This summary contains all reading material and all lectures summarised in English.
,Articles................................................................................................................................. 3
International migration, remittances and development: Myths and facts ............................ 3
An Introduction to Migration Studies: The Rise and Coming of Age of a Research Field ... 8
Migration Drivers: Why Do People Migrate? .................................................................... 11
Labour Migration ............................................................................................................. 17
Family Migration .............................................................................................................. 19
Student Mobilities ............................................................................................................ 22
Towards a sociology of forced migration and social transformation ................................. 24
Refugees, migrants, neither, both: categorical fetishism and the politics of bounding in
Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ ................................................................................................ 28
Humanitarian Migration ................................................................................................... 31
'What is citizenship, and why does it matter?' .................................................................. 34
Citizenship & Migration .................................................................................................... 38
Citizenship in Non-Western Contexts .............................................................................. 42
The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World ............ 45
Citizenship rights for immigrants: national political processes and cross-national
convergence in western Europe, 1980–2008 ................................................................... 52
Immigrants’ social rights in comparative perspective: welfare regimes, forms of immigration
and immigration policy regimes ....................................................................................... 55
Theories of Discrimination ............................................................................................... 61
The economic returns of immigrants' bonding and bridging social capital. The case of the
Netherlands ..................................................................................................................... 66
The sociology of discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and
consumer markets ........................................................................................................... 70
Lectures ............................................................................................................................. 77
Lecture 1 – Origin countries............................................................................................. 77
Lecture 2 – Why do people migrate? (voluntary) ............................................................. 78
Lecture 3 – Why do people migrate? (forced) .................................................................. 84
Lecture 4 – Citizenship .................................................................................................... 88
Lecture 5 – Immigration and integration policies .............................................................. 91
Lecture 6 – Integration..................................................................................................... 94
[Video] YouTube ............................................................................................................... 98
Effects of Migration in Migrant Countries of Origin ........................................................... 98
2
,Articles
International migration, remittances and
development: Myths and facts
H. de Haas
The debate on international ‘South – North’ labour migration tends to be one-sided because
of its one-sided focus on the interests of and consequences of migration for ‘receiving’
societies. This is striking, since migrants contribute significantly to the social and economic
development of their home countries. Migration policies pursued by most Western states often
tend to decrease the potential contribution of migration to enhancing welfare and well-being
in both the sending and the receiving societies.
It would appear fundamental to regard the relationship between migration and
development as a reciprocal relationship. After all, migration is constituent part of development
processes and an independent factor affecting development in migrant sending and receiving
societies.
Partly because of the one-sided focus on the 'receiving' side of migration, a number of
established 'migration myths' have evolved in public perception and in policy circles. Through
this analysis we will try to show how a more balanced and nuanced view of migration and
development can contribute to more informed and, therefore, more effective policies to
maximise the develop- mental benefits of migration
Migration myths
1. We live in an age of unprecedented migration
One century ago the percentage of international migrants in the total world population was at
almost similar levels to those of today. Thus, there seems no justification for employing
'aquatic' metaphors such as massive 'waves' to describe contemporary international migration
patterns.
Increasing visibility of global migration for the resident populations of Western societies
might partly explain the popular perception that current migration is at unprecedented levels
and the concomitant 'flooding' images associated with migration.
2. Poverty and misery are the root causes of labour migration
Rather than absolute poverty, a certain level of socioeconomic development, combined with
relative deprivation in the form of global inequality of development opportunities, seems to be
the most important cause of migration.
Only in the longer run, after several decades of sustained growth and progressive
convergence of income gaps with destination countries, does emigration tend to decrease and
immigration to increase.
The relation between migration and development is neither linear nor inversely
proportional. Growth, development and decreasing differentials with destination countries tend
rather to have a J-curve or inverted U-curve effect on emigration, steeply increasing in the
initial phases of development and only later gradually decreasing → Migration Dump
3
, 3. Development policies, development assistance and trade liberalisation
are an effective ‘remedy’ against migration
Social and economic development enables more people to migrate and tends to increase their
aspirations. Several studies suggest that economic growth related to trade liberalisation leads
to more rather than less migration in the short to medium run.
Moreover, trade liberalisation and migration can become long-term complements if
non-tariff trade barriers, subsidies, higher productivity, technological advantages and
economics of scale in the North harm the competitiveness of the South even in the production
of labour-intensive goods, thereby leading to the shift of economic activities to the North, along
with more immigration to support them.
4. Migration provokes a brain drain.
First, not all migrants are highly skilled.
Second, the brain drain seems to be only truly massive in a minority of countries. The
emigration of highly educated migrants seems to be truly harmful only in a limited number of
countries.
Third, a brain drain can be accompanied by a significant brain gain. The departure of
the highly skilled may have beneficial effects in the form of a counterflow of remittances,
investments, trade relations, new knowledge, innovations, attitudes and information.
Fourth, labour tends to be much more productive in wealthy, industrialised countries.
In an increasing number of developing countries there is mass unemployment among the more
highly educated.
Many governments consider skilled labourers to be an export product and so willingly
create surpluses of certain categories of the highly skilled. Highly skilled migrants often play
an important and positive role in the societal and political debate, the development of a civil
society in countries of origin, and the emancipation of women and minority groups. One of the
main reasons for this is that they tend to have more opportunities and freedom to organise
themselves and express their opinion than is often the case in the sending countries.
This is not to say that the impact of migration is always positive and that no brain drain
can occur. However, it is important to acknowledge that it is virtually impossible to stop the
migration of the highly (and low) skilled. Stay-at-home policies pursued by emigration
countries have proved not only to be ineffective, but also, and more importantly, to be
counterproductive by alienating migrants.
Bhagwati (2003) recently argued that a more realistic response to emigration requires
abandoning the 'brain drain' approach of trying to keep the skilled at home. Instead,
governments of sending countries should encourage the brain gain referred to above. Rather
than punishing emigrants by depriving them of rights, the governments of sending countries
should grant emigrants economic and political rights to increase their commitment and
encourage remittances, investments and their participation in public debate. Such an
approach would appear to be more successful in preventing migrants from turning their backs
on their home countries.
It is important in this context to recognise the de facto transnationalisation of migrants’
lives. The radically improved technical possibilities for migrants to foster links with their
societies of origin through the (mobile) telephone, fax, (satellite) television and the internet,
and to remit money through globalised banking systems or informal channels. This
increasingly enables migrants to foster double loyalties, to travel back and forth, to relate to
people, to work and to do business simultaneously in distant places.
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