Transnational Communities - not your grandfather’s diaspora -

Harvard University Alvaro Lima, April 2008

AGENDA:

I. Immigration Studies and Transnationalism (Brief Background)

II. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism”?

III. Traditional versus Transnational Lenses

IV.  Measuring Transnationalism

V. Some Implications of Transnationalism

VI. Project Portfolio

  Traditionally migration studies have been concerned with understanding the origins and the impact of cross-borer flows;

  These flows have been understood mostly as a one way movement from sending countries to receiving countries;

  Immigration policies have been almost entirely focused on procedures and prohibitions governing admissions (who? how many? and what kind of immigrants should be admitted?).

  There is a widespread belief that migration is caused by poverty, economic stagnation, and overpopulation in the countries of origin unrelated to receiving countries’ foreign policies, economic needs and broader international economic conditions;

  While overpopulation, poverty, and economic stagnation all create pressures for migration, there are systematic, structural relations between globalization and migration flows with worldwide evidence of a considerable patterning in the geography of migrations.

poverty

stagnation

overpopulation

etc…

Country Total

Population (millions)

Population from

Developing Countries (millions)

Percent of Total

Population

Top Five Source

Countries (percent of

total)

Top Five Source Countries

United States

Spain

France

UK

Netherlands

Portugal

Japan

281.4

40.8

58.5

58.8

16.0

10.4

127

28.4

1.5

3.7

3.0

1.2

0.5

1.2

10.1

3.7

6.4

5.1

7.6

4.5

1.0

45.2

44.2

20.4

30.1

48.6

62.8

69.6

Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, India, China

Morocco, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela

Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Vietnam

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jamaica, South Africa

Suriname, Turkey, Indonesia, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles

Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Venezuela

North Korea, South Korea, China, Brazil, Philippines

Foreign-Born Population of Rich OECD Countries from Developing Countries

Source: Let Their People Come, Lant Pritchett, 2006

  Immigrant integration policies (education, training, placement, ESOL, health care, entrepreneurship, citizenship, etc..) are skeletal, ad hoc, under-funded and dominated by the ideology of assimilation;

  As Nathan Glazer puts it, “the settlement, adaptation, and progress, or lack of it, of immigrants is largely, in the U.S. context, up to them.”

labor market language acquisition

housing education

etc…

  Re-integration policies for those returning are generally inexistent making the re-settlement process prone to failure feeding back emigration:

labor market

housing education

etc…

What is “Immigrant Transnationalism”?  Regular, frequent engagement in economic, political and socio-cultural activities in both countries:

Drivers of Transnationalism

  Developments in the means of transportation and communications have changed the relations between people and places (costs);

  International migrations have become crucial to the demographic future of many developed countries;

  Global political transformations and new international legal regimes weakened the state as the only legitimate source of rights;

  Fostered by global consumption, global production, and immigration, cultural hybridization are substituting folkloric romanticism and political nationalism enshrined as essences of national cultures;

  Contexts of exit and modes of incorporation facilitate or impede, foster or discourage, demand or preclude some or all of the cross-border activities:

Country of Settlement

Country of Origin

Transnational migrants Non-migrants

embedded in transnational social fields

Transnational Social Field

Transnational activities

Context of Exit:   Education Level   Race and Ethnicity   Family Wealth   Urban versus Rural Origin   Government Support Structures   Etc.

Context of Incorporation:   Inclusion & Exclusion Structures   Alien versus Citizenship Rights   Government and Other Support Systems   Race and Ethnicity Structures   Etc.

Contexts of Exit and Incorporation

11

Traditional Lenses:

  immigration conceptualized as a bipolar relation between sending and receiving countries (moving from there to here)

 emigration is the result of individual search for economic opportunity, political freedom, etc.

 migrants are assumed to be the poorest of the poor

  immigrants occupy low-skilled jobs in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing

  Immigrants steadily shift their contextual focus, economic and social activities to receiving country

  immigration should not bring about significant change in the receiving society

Transnational Lenses:

  immigration conceptualized as flows of cross-border economic, political and social-cultural activities (being here and there)

 emigration is the result of geopolitical interests, global linkages, and economic globalization

 migrants are not the poorest of the poor nor do they come from the poorest nations

 growth in the service and technology-based jobs create opportunities for low as well as high skilled migrants

 After the initial movement, migrants continue to maintain ties with their country of origin

  immigration creates hybrid societies with a richer cultural milieu

Traditional versus Transnational Lenses

$875

$398

$331

$218

$-

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

Monthly Remittance by Nationality

$278 $274

$192 $188 $185 $177 $113

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVERAGE = $294

45.4%

20.5% 17.8%

5.1% 4.9% 3.7% 1.6% 0.8% 0.2% 0.0% 5.0%

10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%

Purchasing of Nostalgic Products Among Brazilians

37.6%

28.9% 26.0%

5.5%

1.6% 0.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

Does not have / NR

Checking account

Savings account

Credit card Investment account

Foreign currency savings

Financial Accounts in Country of Origin - Brazil

MEASURING TRANSNATIONALISM

46.6%

36.80%

27.0%

22.7% 20.0%

15.3% 14.0%

10.3% 9.1% 5.7%

3.7%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%

Help Beyond Remittances

AVERAGE = 19.2%

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

13

26.3%

12.4% 10.0%

6.7% 5.0%

4.0% 3.5% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4% 0.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Support of Hometown Associations

AVERAGE = 6.7%

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

MEASURING TRANSNATIONALISM

MEASURING TRANSNATIONALISM

Some Implications of Transnationalism

  Portability becomes crucial for transnational migrants – education and certification processes; investment and retirement schemes, health insurance, etc.;

  Concepts such as “local development,” “local community” and “social capital” must be redefined as space of flows (relationships) instead of just geographic places to accommodate transnational behavior;

  Transnational immigrant entrepreneurs’ contribution to the revitalization of inner city neighborhoods across the U.S. is vital and entrepreneurial support systems should adapt to serve them;

  Nation-state ideals of identity in both sending and receiving countries are challenged by transnational practices;

  States must re-conceive immigration and adapt their policies and practices to accommodate transnational realities;

1st Generation Innovation Portfolio

Digaai.com

Transnational Index

Diaspora Capital Services

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Transnational Fellows

Research Projects (transnational immigrant organizations)

Publications

17

What if… (scenario 2) Digaai.com

  2 million Brazilians around the world:   communicate home with each other (social

networking)

  register their experience/build unique archives through video, photos, etc.

  search newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.

  contribute to Brazilian diaspora wiki

  store personal information using private web space

18

19

Transnational Index  What:

  Data and survey-based ranking of communities by their degree of transnationalism

  Published annually in partnership with national media

 Why:   create awareness among policy makers of transnational

phenomena

  identify social and commercial innovation opportunities for transnational immigrant communities

  build consciousness among transnational immigrants of unique potential

Designing the Index