Kinship and Economic-Rational Migration: a Comparison of Micro- and Macro-level Analyses*

Social theorists have thought of economic-rational migration as a requisite of modern society which leads to the dispersion of kin and weakening of kin ties. Census data on State Economic Areas and survey data on migration from a small community are used to examine economic and kinship influences on migration at the micro- and macro-levels. The macro-level data show a “rational” pattern of migrant dispersion. However, the microlevel data show an extensive tendency, especially among working-class migrants, to follow the paths of siblings and other kin predominantly because of the information they supply on working and living conditions. Thus, at the micro-level, migration is a blend of rational concerns about work and reliance on kin in finding it. Numerous small kinshipbased chain migration streams flow to a variety of destinations, producing a macro-level pattern of dispersion that appears rational and that meets the migration requisite of modern society.     

Migrant Membership as an Instituted Process: Transnationalization,the State and The Extra‐Territorial Conduct of Mexican Politics1

How should we conceptualize membership, citizenship and political community in a world where migrants and their home states increasingly maintain and cultivate their formal and informal ties? This study analyzes the extra‐territorial conduct of Mexican. politics and the emergence of new migrant membership practices and relations between migrants and home states. Standard globalist, transnationalist or citizenship theories cannot properly contextualize and analyze such practices. I propose that we rethink the concept of membership in a political community not only as a Marshallian status granted by states, but also as an instituted process embedded within four other institutions and processes: home state domestic politics; the home state's relationship to the world system; a semi‐autonomous transnational civil society created in part by migration; and the context of reception of migrants in the United States. A main conclusion is that the state itself plays a key role in creating transnational political action by migrants and new migrant membership practices. The article draws on printed sources and interviews and ethnography done since 1990.     

Gender Differences in the Role of Migrant Networks: Comparing Congolese and Senegalese Migration Flows

This paper uses recent longitudinal data collected within the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) project to investigate gender differences in the role of migrant networks in international mobility. Furthermore, we compare Congolese and Senegalese migration streams to examine how the interplay between gender and networks varies across contexts of origin. We go beyond previous studies by considering the case of spousal reunification alongside other forms of migration: we separate the role of the migrant spouse from other network ties, as failing to do so overestimates the role of migrant networks in female mobility. We further find that Senegalese women are more likely than men to rely on geographically concentrated networks, composed of close kin and established abroad for a long time. Gender differences are much less pronounced in the Congolese case, which we relate to the more rigid patriarchal norms in Senegal, restricting female autonomy both in terms of mobility and economic activity.     

Peasant struggles and social change: migration,households and gender in a rural Turkish society

"This article sheds light on the interrelationship of seasonal migration, subsistence production and peasant relations in a community (Sakli) located in Turkey's northwestern countryside.... While migrant labor is understood by local villagers as forming part of a continual battle to preserve local tradition and kinship ties, this article shows how it reduces the dominion of landlords while creating internal household differentiation and gendered hierarchies."     

Trust Networks in Transnational Migration

The sheer volume of migrant remittances to relatively poor countries, including those of Latin America and the Caribbean, nicely dramatizes the genuinely transnational social ties created by long-distance migration. The evidence underlines that migration flows are serious business, not only for the individuals and families involved, but also for whole national economies. Thinking about remittances also allows us to identify some crucial social processes of which most migrants and first-hand students of migration are well aware, but for which we have neither well-established theories, carefully crafted concepts, nor extensive evidence. I mean the creation, use, and transformation of interpersonal trust networks within migration streams.     

Come Back or Stay? Spend Here or There? Return and Remittances: The Case of Moldova

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of temporary and permanent migration from the perspective of migrant source countries. Based on a large and detailed household dataset on migration in the Republic of Moldova, the most important factors that influence a respective migrant’s decision whether to return to the home country or to stay abroad for good are presented first. Second, the remittance behaviour of temporary and permanent migrants is analysed to investigate how developing countries benefit from either type of migration. The results indicate that the most important determinants of permanent migration relate to the economic conditions at home and abroad, as well as to the legal status of a migrant in the host country. Furthermore, economic and political frustration plays an important role in the decision of permanent migrants not to come back. On the contrary, family ties as measured by the number of close family members at home act as a pull factor for migrant return. Interestingly, permanent migrants use source country networks that differ from those of temporary migrants, indicating that the return decision of individuals is influenced by the decision of their migrant peers. Concerning remittances, the results reveal that, in absolute terms, temporary migrants remit around 30 per cent more than their permanent counterparts. This outcome is surprising, because temporary migrants often reside in countries where wages are much lower. Overall, the findings indicate that when compared to permanent migration, temporary migration is favourable for developing countries, as it fosters not only repatriation of skills, but also higher remittances, and home savings.     

Migrant Indebtedness: Bangladeshis in the GCC Countries

Labour migration affects family economics in at least two ways: one is the outflow of indispensable family resources to meet the expenses incurred in the migration process and the other is the transfer in cash or kind from migrants to their non‐migrating families. This study primarily addresses the former flow, that is sources of funds for migration and resulting migrant indebtedness. Drawing on the experiences of Bangladeshi migrants in the GCC countries, this study explores the economic cost of migration, the extent of migrant indebtedness, and the implications of remittances on migrant families. This research exposes the complexity and multiplicity of the economic costs of migration to the GCC countries and reports that Bangladeshi migration to the Gulf states runs on debt, with migrants and their families indebting themselves in the migration process.     

Linking return visits and return migration among Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean migrants in Toronto

Abstract In this article I explore a theoretical link between return visits and return migration using ethnographic data obtained through fieldwork among members of the broader Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean community in Toronto, Canada. Return visits are periodic but temporary sojourns made by members of migrant communities to their external homeland or another location where strong social ties exist. As a result, the conceptual framework in this article revolves around transnationalism as the return visit is shown to be a transnational exercise that may facilitate return. Using data from ethnographic fieldwork, three themes highlight the link between return visits and return migration: (1) the need to facilitate ties such that relationships are meaningful upon permanent return; (2) the functional nature of the return visit, such that changes are measured and benchmarked against what is remembered and internalized by the migration after the migration episode; and (3) the knowledge that return visits aid in reintegration.     

The Determinants of Immigration from Fiji to New Zealand: An Empirical Reassessment using the Bounds Testing Approach

This article re‐examines Gani's (1998) findings on the determinants of migrant flows from Fiji to New Zealand by employing the bounds testing procedure to cointegration, within an autoregressive distributive lag framework. The main findings are that in the long run all variables are statistically insignificant, although correctly signed with the exception of the unemployment differential. In the short run, in sharp contrast to Gani's (1998) findings, political instability is consistently the most important determinant of migration flows while the standard of living and real wage differentials are statistically insignificant across all specifications.     

Place of Origin,Types of Ties,and Support Networks in Mexico–U.S. Migration*

Previous studies explored how urban or rural place of origin influences the source of social capital. There remains a need to consider how the place of origin affects the type of ties—family, friends, or paisanos (countrymen)—with those who provide support to migrants. We use data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP128) and perform multinomial logistic regression models to predict who (among family, friends, or paisanos) provides lodging to first‐time undocumented male migrants from Mexico, taking into account the size of their place of origin. We find that paisanos are important in providing lodging to those from rural areas, and family members are more likely to assist those from urban settings. Paisanos are more likely to help at the beginning of the migratory flow of the community (rural or urban), and family members to do so once the flow has matured. Also, paisanos are more likely to help those in rural areas during more difficult times, such as after the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement. We suggest that paisanos fulfill a role similar to that in Granovetter's (1973) concept of the strength of weak ties in which they act as substitutes for other ties (such as to friends and family) to provide social capital, making the first‐time undocumented migration possible.     

Moving Through Social Networks: The Case of Armenian Migrants in the Czech Republic

This paper brings attention to the role of social networks in the migration of asylum seekers and explores how the embeddedness of the migrants in social networks both facilitates and constrains their mobility in different phases of the migration process. It reconstructs the migration paths of eight Armenian migrant families who arrived in the Czech Republic as asylum seekers during the 1990s and the beginning of the twenty‐first century. By examining the narrated stories of the Armenian migrants it shows that social networks formed an important context for employing various migration strategies in all phases of the migration process, and that the meaning and character of migrants’ social networks changed over time. In the initial phase of decision‐making about migration as well as on their journey, it was mainly weak ties of random acquaintances that played a dominant role. The position of the migrants in those networks was rather insecure. They held a little control over the information they received, but in these vulnerable situations they had to rely on their weak ties, which strongly influenced their mobility. In the arrival and settlement phases the social context of the refugee camp hindered the cultivation of social ties outside the migrants’ circle on one hand, and facilitated development of bonding ties among the migrants on the other. Bonding social networks enabled inclusion of the Armenian migrants into various social spheres especially at the beginning of the settlement process. However, the bounded character of these networks was also recognized as excluding them from access to resources of the dominant society and preventing their social mobility in later phases of their settlement. Thus, bridging networks that provide access to certain resources of the dominant society were sought.     

Migrant visits over time: Ethnographic returning and the technological turn

This paper reflects on four decades of research (via ethnographic returning) to explore the social transformations in travel and communication technologies that have impacted the lived experiences, and consequently the theoretical conceptualization, of migrant visits. A comparison of migration waves between Italy and Australia reveals both continuities in visiting experience as deeply relational practices that facilitate a mutuality of being, but also transformations brought about by the technological turn. Visits take on different meanings depending on individual/ family life stage, generation, and community and national histories. The capacity for both physical and virtual copresence must be understood as coconstitutive, requiring a temporal perspective. The experiences of immobile migrants in residential care suggest that, in the context of rich histories of copresence over time, digital kinning can provide the capacity to share a mutuality of being that safeguards the socio-relational ties of individual and collective identities and belonging that make us human.     

Alienation of the outsider: the plight of migrants

This paper compares the plight of international migrants with those from rural to urban areas, examining specifically the migration of Turks into Europe and into Turkish metropolitan centers. This allows comparison of migrant groups with the same point of origin in terms of national, ethnic, cultural, religious, and social characteristics, as well as the same traditional family culture. Economic factors are the main reasons for immigration into Europe. The migrant worker and his family often become marginal to both the country of origin and the country of sojourn. The migrant family must be flexible in dividing or reconstructing itself in various ways to accommodate time, space, and money requirements and to protect ties with the home country requiring intensive geographical mobility, resulting in structural instability and even fragmentation. For the 2nd generation, poor school performance decreases self-esteem and hinders the development of cultural identity; the higher the aspirations for the future and the perception of marginality, the greater is the child's orientation toward the home country. In Turkey, rapid change in traditional agricultural production and rapid population growth caused the movement of population from rural to urban areas. Through rural-urban migration and international migration millions become uprooted populations and become "outsiders." The distinction between 1st and 2nd generation is one of degree, based on the retention of the traditional culture and identity. Factors which interfere with the integration of the migrant population into the dominant society include 1) the unicultural nature of the dominant society and 2) the degree of similarity (or dissimilarity) between the 2. In Turkey, as well as in many other developing countries, the "traditional" family interaction pattern is characterized by relatedness and interdependence among individuals and between generations. Turkish rural to urban migrants are in a more favorable situation than immigrants to Europe to utilize the informal affiliations of family, kin, and community. Extended communal networks are recreated through congested slum living conditions and through friendship sometimes replacing family and kin; traditional identities are reaffirmed through strengthened religious and national sentiments and informal groupings.     

Migration,development and remittances in rural Mexico

The argument is that remittances to Mexico from migrants in the US contribute to household prosperity and lessen the balance of payments problem. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the incentives and constraints to development and individual economic well-being in rural Mexico. Examination is made of the financial amount of remittances, the use of remittances, the impact on development of remittances, models of migration, and migration historically. The viewpoint is that migration satisfies labor needs in developed countries to the detriment of underdeveloped countries. $2 billion a year are sent by illegal migrants from the US to Mexico. This sum is 4 times the net earning of Mexico's tourist trade. 21.1% of the Mexican population depend in part on money sent from the US. 79% of illegal migrants remitted money to relatives in Jalisco state. 70% of migrant families receive $170/month. In Guadalupe, 73% of families depended on migrant income. In Villa Guerrero, 50% of households depended on migrant income. Migrant income supported 1 out of 5 households in Mexico. Money is usually spent of household subsistence items. Sometimes money is also spent on community religious festivals, marriage ceremonies, and education of children or improved living conditions. Examples are given of money being used for investment in land and livestock. Migration affects community solidarity, and comparative ethic, and the influence on others to migrate. Employment opportunities are not expanded and cottage and community industries are threatened. Land purchases did not result in land improvements. Migration models are deficient. There is a macro/micro dichotomy. The push-and-pull system is not controllable by individual migrants. The migration remittance model is a product of unequal development and a mechanism feeding migration. Mexican migration has occurred since the 1880's; seasonal migration was encouraged. There was coercion to return to Mexico after the economic recession of World War I; the door was firmly closely during the Great Depression of 1929-35. The 1980 estimates of illegal Mexican migrants totaled 2-9 million, which is the largest flow in the world. US industrial presence and Mexican development have reinforced migration flows. Regional and international capitalist requirements govern migration.     

Feeding the Ties to “Home”: Diaspora Policies for the Next Generations

How do countries of origin deal with their post‐migrant generations, the emigrants' descendants who are born and raised abroad? In this article we examine the diaspora policies of Morocco, a country that relies heavily on its expatriate communities and that is confronted with growing post‐migrant generations. Theoretically, the article draws on the literature on diaspora policies and migrant transnationalism and connects the two. An in‐depth examination of the annual Summer Universities for young Moroccans Living Abroad, one of the flagships of the current Moroccan diaspora policy, demonstrates that diaspora policy programmes are vehicles to convey targeted messages to the post‐migrant generations concerning their transnational ties.     

Out-migration and ethnic communities

"Comparative analysis of out-migration [in the United States]...reveals substantial ethnic differentials. Part of the variation results from group compositional differences in social class and other characteristics normally related to migration, particularly age, education and local birth. Equally important, however, are indicators of social and economic bonds." The data concern 3,345 adults who were first interviewed between 1967 and 1969 in Rhode Island and were reinterviewed in 1970, 1971, and 1979. "The results suggest that ethnic groups characterized by a dense network of social and economic ties do not sponsor out-migration, which has been the emphasis of many past studies of chain migration and migrant assimilation. Rather, they deter out-migration by providing alternative opportunities within the ethnic community."     

Population movement in Zhejiang province,China: the impact of government policies

"China's urbanization policies include strict control of permanent migration to large cities, but encourage the growth of small cities and towns. Concurrently, temporary migration is widely permitted as a way to stimulate commerce. Data for Zhejiang province indicate that permanent mobility is largely directed toward urban places, that towns gain more than cities and that rural areas experience migration losses. Permanent migrants to urban places are selective of the better educated. Temporary migration is also urban directed but greater in volume than permanent migration, and places considerable strain on urban infrastructure. Government policies are a key to understanding the migration streams and migrant characteristics. The considerable net movement into cities suggests that strict control of city growth is more difficult to achieve than envisaged by policymakers." This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1989 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (see Population Index, Vol. 55, No. 3, Fall 1989, p. 386).     

Bodily Offerings of Belonging: Chinese-Australians in Perth

Under the auspices of a prominent Chinese association, a group of young Chinese girls diligently practise, produce and perform what they understand to be Chinese cultural dance in Perth, Western Australia. The public performance of this cultural dance form has been a common sight since the implementation of multiculturalism in the Australian landscape in the 1970s. This paper explores how a uniquely Chinese-Australian belonging is enabled for a migrant community in one of Australia's key cities by focusing on the processes through which Chinese cultural dance is postured, practised and produced. It underlines the dynamic reflexivity and resilience demonstrated by the community in seeking to define their belonging within a state-imposed framework.     

Migrant Women’s Transnationalism: Family Patterns and Policies

Whereas current policies on migration and integration are beginning to recognise family reunion as one of the most legitimate reasons for acceptance by a host society, they in most cases still do not account for the growing trend of feminisation of migration, and even rarely do they address specific migrants’ needs. As currently constituted, the integration bills envision a one‐way process that places migrants into a position where they cannot question, but only accept and fulfil the predetermined requirements of integration plans. But who are the women that migrate, what influence do their transnational experiences have on their families, and how do migration policies envision the reality of increasing transnationalism? This paper focuses on biographical interviews with migrant women in Slovenia as a valuable method to question current integration measurements, applied here to explore female migrants’ experiences in transnational family life and social networks. A gender sensitive approach is applied that critically evaluates the specificities of family reunification policies, which define women migrants as dependent family members. We discuss life trajectories of women migrants, focusing the debate on their own experiences in and with family life. This new empirical material is used to theorise gaps in contemporary migration research. Women migrants’ own reflections of transnational family ties show a great variety of experiences and their narratives are a unique window into motivational, political, as well as legal dimensions of migration.     

The Impact of Temporary Labor Migration on Mexican Children's Educational Aspirations and Performance1

This article examines how temporary U.S. labor migration by family members and by students affects the educational aspirations and performance of those same students growing up in Mexican migrant communities. Labor migration affects these children in two ways. First it brings remitted U.S. earnings into the household which allows parents to provide more education for their children and reduce the need for children's labor. Higher incomes are also associated with numerous factors that improve the general well‐being of children, as reflected in various indicators including higher school grades. Labor migration also has negative impacts on children. In addition to family stress and behavioral problems with adolescents due to parental and sibling absence, migration provides an example of an alternative route to economic mobility. Children growing up in migrant households have access to information and social networks that reduce their likelihood of migration failure should they choose this alternative to the Mexican labor market. We analyze a unique data set from a stratified random sample of 7600 grammar, junior high, and high school‐level students in a state capital, a large town, and 25 rural communities in a Mexican migrant‐sending state. We find that high levels of U.S. migration are associated with lower aspirations to attend a university at all academic levels. We find, however, a positive relationship between U.S. migration and grades. We conclude that while U.S. migration provides financial benefits that allow children to continue schooling and perform well, it may also reduce the motivation to attain above‐average years of schooling.