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Transnational
Communities - not your grandfather’s diaspora -
Digaai Meeting
Alvaro Lima, June 2009
AGENDA:
I. Globalization – A Different Perspective
II. Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
III. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
IV.Traditional versus Transnational Lenses
V. Measuring Transnationalism
VI.Some Implications of Transnationalism
VII.Project Portfolio
Globalisation as Annihilation of Space/ Shrinking of the World
“compression of our spatial and temporal worlds” (D. Harvey)
“constraints of Geography recede” (M. Waters)
Nation States
Feudal Empires
Tribes
Globalisation
Dialectics of globalisation and localisation - glocalisation, global cities - “space ... not only homogenised (and global), but always fragmented as well. ... has not simply shrunk, but ... been transformed” (S. Kirsch)
Globalization – A Different Perspective
”Globalization [...] as the intensification of world-wide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.” (Giddens 1990, p. 64)
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?).
Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
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 receiving countries’
policies 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 – the great melting pot of nations;
labor market
language acquisition
housing education
etc…
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.”
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…
Transnationalism is “the process by which immigrants forge and sustain
multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin
and settlement… (they) take actions, make decisions, and develop
subjectivities and identities embedded in networks of relationships that
connect them simultaneously to two or more nation states” (Mandaville
2001:45)
What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
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 cross-border activities:
Contexts of Exit and Incorporation
Context of Incorporation:
Inclusion & Exclusion
Structures
Alien versus Citizenship
Rights
Government & Other
Support Systems
Race and Ethnicity
Structures
etc.
Context of Exit:
Education Level
Race & Ethnicity
Family Wealth
Urban versus Rural
Origin
Government & Other
Support Systems
etc.
12
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
14
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.;
The concept of “community,” “society,” as well
as “the local,” must be redefined as space of flows
(relationships), pluri-local and nation-state-boarder
spanning, instead of bounded geographic places –
geographic and social container spaces;
Transnational immigrant entrepreneurs’ contributions to the economy have
to be recognized as such and not as just “ethnic;”
Nation-state ideals of identity in both sending and receiving countries are
challenged by transnational practices – double citizenship, XXXX;
States must re-conceive immigration and adapt their policies and
practices to accommodate transnational realities;
First Generation Innovation Portfolio
Digaai.com
Transnational Index
Diaspora Capital Services
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Transnational Fellows
Research Projects & Publications
18
4 million Brazilians using digaai.com worldwide to:
communicate home and with each other - social networking;
register their every day experiences;
build unique video, photos, audio and text archives;
search newspapers,
magazines, websites;
contribute to Brazilian
diaspora history - wiki;
store personal information
using private web space;
transact on line.
19
Transnational Index
What:
Data and survey-based ranking of communities by their degree of
transnationalism published annually in partnership with national
media
identify social and
commercial innovation
opportunities for
transnational immigrant
communities
build consciousness
among transnational
immigrants of unique
potential
Why:
create awareness among policy makers of transnational phenomena