Showing papers in "Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies in 2012"

The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of Movement

Abstract: Nicholas De Genova and Nathalie Peutz (eds), The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of Movement Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010, 520 pp., $99.95 hb. (ISBN 978-0-8223-45...

Central Themes in the Study of Transnational Parenthood

Abstract: This article reviews the emerging literature on transnational parenthood, concentrating on six themes: gender, care arrangements, legislation, class, communication and moralities. Gender concerns not only the distinction between transnational motherhood and transnational fatherhood, but also the role of children's gender and the broader networks of gender relations within which transnational parenthood is practised. Care arrangements are often the most tangible challenge for transnational parents, and an area where material and emotional concerns intersect. The third theme, legislation, primarily concerns how immigration law can be decisive for separation and the prospects for reunification, as well as for the practice of parenthood from afar. Analysis of class can help us to understand differences in how transnational parenthood is practised and experienced. Communication across long distances is a defining element in the everyday practice of transnational parenthood, shaped by the intersection of techno...

Migrants' New Transnational Habitus: Rethinking Migration Through a Cosmopolitan Lens in the Digital Age

Abstract: This article puts forward a cosmopolitan reading of international migration, focusing on the role played by ICTs in generating new ways of living together and acting transnationally in the digital era. After underlining some of the complex dimensions of the transnational debate and the limits of methodological nationalism, I will argue

Explaining Attitudes Towards Immigration Policies in European Countries: The Role of Human Values

Abstract: European societies have been experiencing increasing rates of immigration in recent decades. At the same time one can observe a substantial rise in anti-foreigner sentiments. In this study we investigate the effect of human values on attitudes towards immigration. We hypothesise that self-transcendent individuals are more supportive of, and conservative individuals are more adverse to, immigration. We do not expect large differences in the effect of values across contexts. To explain cross-country and cross-time differences we use group threat theory, according to which larger inflows of immigration combined with challenging economic conditions impose a threat on the host society, resulting in more negative attitudes towards immigration. To test our hypotheses we use data from the first three rounds of the European Social Survey (2002–03, 2004–05 and 2006–07) and multilevel analysis. Prior to the interpretation of the results, we guarantee that the concepts display measurement invariance across countries ...

The Political Uses of Expert Knowledge: Immigration Policy and Social Research

Abstract: Christina Boswell, The Political Uses of Expert Knowledge: Immigration Policy and Social Research Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, 280pp., £55.00hb. (ISBN 978-0-5215-1741-6) With the ri...

Transnational migration and the study of children: an introduction

Abstract: This introductory article sets out the main challenges that the study of children poses for the understanding of transnational migration. Children are not simply a neglected empirical group, whose perspectives are rarely considered; children can also provide researchers with important insights concerning the nature of transnationalism if the phenomenon is considered through their eyes. Research on transnational children brings to the fore issues concerning familial practices and discourses, the importance of the life-course and of generation, and the role of feelings in creating and changing transnational relationships and imaginaries. Focusing on children and children's places raises important questions concerning the relationship between the life-course and the global political economy. Finally, researching with children raises particular methodological challenges and approaches.

Migration and Diaspora in the Age of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract: ‘Migration and the Internet: Social Networking and Diasporas’ is an interdisciplinary collection that explores new emerging media and technological networks—developed by individual and family migrants—which help to construct transnational and diasporic communities. Despite the fact that there is an increasing interest in ‘migration’ and in ‘information and communication technology’ studies, this Special Issue of JEMS goes beyond mere description of the use and impact of the technology on human mobility. It provides an in-depth analysis of a wide range of dispersed populations—including Albanians, Arabs, Basques, Croatians, Han, Hindus, Kurds, Romanians, Turks, Salvadorans, Serbians and Sikhs—and their interactions with globe-spanning instruments of information and communication. The issue brings together some of the leading specialists at the crossroads of migration and emerging technologies. The collection presents empirical and theoretical essays from the social, political and behavioural sciences, whil...

Transnational Family Separation: A Framework for Analysis

Abstract: Existing scholarly literature and public discussions in sending and receiving countries often attempt to assess the costs and benefits of transnational family separation, not from the point of view of the participants but by universalising notions of motherhood and fatherhood without recognising different familial contexts and traditions. Such universalisation often results in separated families being defined as pathological, and transnational parents being blamed for the problems of youth left behind. Immigrant parents, on the other hand, often create a cost–benefit calculus based on fragmentary and inaccurate information and use this calculus to influence their transnational parenting practices to mitigate the costs of their separation from their children. In this article, we argue for the importance of context in understanding the impact of transnational family separation and propose a framework for assessing costs and benefits from the points of view not only of parents but also of others in the trans...

Transnational Families and Social Technologies: Reassessing Immigration Psychology

Abstract: Social technologies—mobile phones, the wide availability of international phone calls, and the mainstreaming of Internet connectivity and social media—are becoming a cornerstone of the immigrant family experience. Information communication technologies (ICTs) are supporting the transformation of family networks into transnational ones, with potentially significant consequences in the psychology of immigration and family mental health. Social technologies may be influencing and mainstreaming the transnational experiences while families are finding resilient ways to confront the difficulties posed by immigration. Computer-mediated communications among transnational families are a source of compelling opportunities and a challenge for clinicians to adopt an ecosystemic perspective and address these new circumstances.

The Stages of Migration. From Going Abroad to Settling Down: Post-Accession Polish Migrant Workers in Norway

Abstract: This article discusses the temporal dynamics of labour migration from Poland to Norway since the 2004 EU enlargement Analysing quantitative survey and registry data as well as qualitative migration histories of Polish migrants in Norway and of return migrants in Poland, I argue that there is a strong potential for a substantial proportion of these migrants to settle permanently or at least long-term in Norway With borders open, migrants' decisions about settlement and return are shaped by their opportunities within segmented labour markets, and their embeddedness in transnational families and social networks I posit that the migration process from departure to settlement can be constructed in three stages, from an initial stage of temporary work abroad, through open-ended transnational commuting, to permanent settlement Not everyone goes through these stages, and individuals may return at any point, but their reasons for doing so—and the contexts in which they do so—differ depending on the stage they

Reframing the Roma: EU Initiatives and the Politics of Reinterpretation

Abstract: Since the accession of the A8 post-communist countries to the European Union, various EU institutions have regularly expressed deep concern about the precarious political, social and economic position of the Roma. This article examines the recent political reinterpretations that accompany the EU's framing of the Roma as a group in need of special attention. It argues that EU institutions will have to find ways to deal with the ambivalence inherent in their ‘European’ appeals for tackling the problems at hand. These calls may indeed—as, for example, the European Commission insists—enhance cooperation between different levels of government and persuade member-states to adopt new policies that will benefit Romani citizens. But, somewhat paradoxically, they also provide new discursive material for nationalist politicians with an anti-Romani agenda who try to minimise or evade their countries’ domestic responsibility by highlighting the role and responsibility of the EU. They also latch onto the alleged ‘Europ...

The Politics of International Migration Management

Abstract: corporeality of suffering migrant bodies in Spanish, Italian and Greek films, soliciting not only compassion but also sadomasochistic pleasure on the part of the viewer. Carrie Tarr argues that the dominant imagery of diasporic women as passive victims is counteracted by diasporic women film-makers portraying strong and active females. James Williams discusses the representation of queer migrants confronted with the double threat of racism and homophobia. Daniela Berghahn describes the diasporic youth film as a coming-of-age narrative dealing with the search for ethnic and cultural belonging. Deniz Göktürk argues that the celebration of musical hybridity challenges any nation-based understanding of music, film and culture in general. In the last chapter, Claudia Sternberg argues that films and scenes about cinema-going enable us to reflect on migrants not only as objects of stereotypical representation, but also as consumers, critics and producers of media. In an epilogue, film professional Gareth Jones reflects on migrant and diasporic cinema not as a ‘fait accompli’ but as a practice. He concludes that migrant and diasporic cinema is not a genre but a thematic wave of concern in contemporary Europe. In sum, this volume offers a unique contribution to migration debates as it highlights the artistic elaboration of a social debate. Despite some contradictory theoretical claims, the editors provide an excellent overview of welland lesserknown European films dealing with migration and multiculturalism.

Practising Motherhood at a Distance: Retention and Loss in Ecuadorian Transnational Families

Abstract: This article builds on an ethnographic study of a migration flow linking Ecuador and Italy. Through personal relationships built up during fieldwork, I was able to delve into the changing interactions between migrant mothers and the children they leave behind, looking also at constructions of ‘mothering at a distance’ in both their host and their home societies. For migrant women, practising transnational motherhood entails communicating frequently, sending remittances and showing a deep affective involvement. The attitudes and practices of migrant mothers suggest an ambivalent commitment: an attempt to exert control from afar over their children's daily lives, alongside a perception that any such attempt may prove inadequate; a struggle to work and save hard, alongside fears that the money sent home may be spent improperly; and a framing of migration as a necessary self-sacrifice, together with concerns about losing their grip on their children's upbringing. The article also looks at the role of some key...

Mobility, Moralities and Motherhood: Navigating the Contingencies of Cape Verdean Lives

Abstract: In this article we discuss how transnational motherhood is managed and experienced in contexts of uncertainty and conflicting pressures. We propose a conceptual approach and apply it to a specific case: female migration from Cape Verde to Europe and North America. The analysis is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted by the authors in Cape Verde and the diaspora over the past decade. We first address the ideal of and expectations towards transnational mothering in Cape Verde, relating these to local forms of kinship, fostering and household organisation. We demonstrate that lengthy separations between mothers and young children are socially constructed as a normal aspect of transnational lives: they are a painful necessity, but are not automatically assumed to be traumatic. In an ideal situation, the biological mother and the foster mother play complementary roles in what we describe as the transnational fostering triangle. Subsequently, we ask how transnational mothering is confronted by un...

Whatever Happened to Simultaneity? Transnational Migration Theory and Dual Engagement in Sending and Receiving Countries

Abstract: The transnationalism literature has focused on the transborder social networks that immigrants in the receiving country maintain with their sending countries and has not sufficiently examined how such transborder connections enable them to become simultaneously engaged in both nation-states. This paper argues that simultaneity is an important part of transnationalism that distinguishes it from long-distance nationalism. We therefore need to more extensively analyse how immigrants’ transborder involvement in their home country simultaneously affects their participation in the host country. I suggest four ways in which the dynamic relationship between home- and host-country engagement can be conceived. The first is a zero-sum relationship, where increased engagement in one country leads to decreased involvement in the other. The second involves the side-by-side co-existence of sending- and receiving-country engagement without one directly influencing the other. The third is a positively reinforcing relation...

Battling with Memleket in London: The Kurdish Diaspora's Engagement with Turkey

Abstract: Since the late 1980s there has been a significant migration of Kurds from Turkey to various countries in Western Europe. Even though Kurds from Turkey make up a significant proportion of London's ethnic minority population, they constitute an ‘invisible’ diasporic community, both in terms of the current debates surrounding ethnicity and the Muslim minority in the UK, and in diaspora studies. This article examines how the Kurdish diaspora interacts with, and relates to, their country of origin. It highlights their resistance to, and struggle with, Turkey (as defined by their displacement and suppression of cultural and linguistic rights) as well as the close and, at times, intimate ties Kurds continue to maintain with Turks and Turkey. Whilst the first is conceptualised as ‘battling with Turkey’, the latter is conceptualised within the framework of ‘memleket’ (homeland) ties. The article explores how the Kurdish diaspora encodes its orientation towards, as well as its resistance to, Turkey; in so doing, it...

How Culturally Significant Imaginings are Translated into Lifestyle Migration

Abstract: Through the examination of British migration to rural France, the article explores how imagination is put into practice and aims to determine what it is that makes some individuals act on the basis of these imaginings to improve their quality of life. It becomes clear that, for lifestyle migration to occur and in order to explain the timing of migration, it is necessary to question and consider the other factors—structural, cultural and biographical—that might drive people to act on the basis of their imaginings. Through recognition of the various contingencies that need to be in place for lifestyle migration to occur, the paper argues for a theoretical approach that accounts for the dialectic between structure and agency in the act of migration.

Irresponsible Radicalisation: Diasporas, Globalisation and Long-Distance Nationalism in the Digital Age

Abstract: The growing scholarship on ethnic diasporas has prompted various off-shoots. Two significant directions are the relationship of diasporas with globalisation and their role in the expansion and radicalisation of ethnic conflict. The corporate enthusiasm of the 1990s for globalisation has been followed by sombre reflections on its destructive impact upon a vast array of areas, including inter-ethnic relations worldwide. This article explores one crucial aspect of this wave of disruption*the rapid expansion of radical forms of long-distance nationalism, often leading to a stress on maximalist goals and an abdication of responsibility. It conceptually distinguishes between stateless diasporas and diasporas that conceive themselves as tied to, and represented by, an existing ‘nationstate’. Examples include ethnic lobbies from the former Yugoslavia, greater Han xenophobia among overseas Chinese, and Hindutva technocratic chauvinism among Hindu-Americans. Finally, the article identifies the onset of ‘online mobbing’ or ‘cyber bullying’ as a new and ominous trend in Internet radicalism.

Low Expectations or Different Evaluations: What Explains Immigrants' High Levels of Trust in Host-Country Institutions?

Abstract: Several recent studies show that immigrants exhibit higher levels of trust in public institutions than natives. This study uses pooled data from the European Social Survey to examine possible reasons for this ‘over-confidence’ of immigrants, arguing that it is largely the relatively lower expectations of immigrants from countries with poorer institutional performance that account for this difference. The eminent role of expectations is also underscored by the finding that low social standing matters less for the level of trust of immigrants than it does for natives. The ‘frame of reference effect’ weakens over time and with increased acculturation in the country of residence, suggesting that expectations are less-strongly based on experiences in the country of origin the better integrated an immigrant is in the country of residence. Small parts of Immigrants' higher trust levels and of the dual frames of reference effect are mediated by the more conservative value orientations of immigrants from countries...

287(g) and the Politics of Interior Immigration Control in the United States: Explaining Local Cooperation with Federal Immigration Authorities

Abstract: This paper aims to improve our understanding of emerging patterns of interior immigration control in the United States by examining local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities under the 287(g) Program. While several recent studies have drawn attention to the shifting terrain of immigration enforcement away from borders into the interior, few have attempted to systematically explain reasons for this shift. Using a county-level dataset of all counties in the United States, this study finds that, despite the purported links between the 287(g) Program and public safety, county crime rates are not significantly related to local cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Rather, the results indicate that local decisions to engage in immigration control efforts are driven by political factors, particularly a county's partisan composition, and demographic pressures related to increases in the Hispanic/Latino population. Demography is not, however, destiny, as new immigration in l...

Salvadoran Transnational Families: ICT and Communication Practices in the Network Society

Abstract: This paper focus on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a crucial aspect in the configuration of new communication processes and practices among transnational families in the context of international migration. I highlight three dimensions of how ICTs offer new possibilities for communicative practices among immigrants and their relatives at home: as a way to maintain family ties and interactions, strengthen cultural values and forms of expression, and provide affective support to the family. Within the academic literature there are few studies that take into consideration the perspective of how ICTs are used by immigrants′ relatives in their home countries. In this sense, the perspectives of transnationalism and transnational family are useful to understand the communication practices that are taking place across national borders. I evaluate some of these elements through case-studies of Salvadoran families who maintain regular communication with their relatives abroad. I address th...

Socio-economic mobility and neo-liberal governmentality in post-socialist Europe: activation and the dehumanisation of the Roma

Abstract: This paper discusses recent profound transformations in the post-socialist governance of welfare states and their impact on the Roma, Europe's most marginalised and vulnerable minority. Discussing the consequences of the recent transition of social policy in East Central Europe from the angle of a shift from Communist welfare societies to post-1989 active societies shows how these changes have simultaneously inaugurated new approaches to the region's Romani minorities. Through an analysis of how neo-liberal forms of governmentality have ambiguously been cross-fertilised with new and renewed patterns and techniques of welfare governance in Slovakia, this paper calls into question the current emphasis on activating supposedly ‘inactive’ Roma. This examination reveals that the introduction of allegedly politically neutral technologies and forms of expertise to improve the Roma's socio-economic mobility has actually resulted in disputable forms of Romani minority governance, including the dehumanisation of so...

‘Going up to England’: Exploring Mobilities among Roma from Eastern Slovakia

Abstract: After Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004, some of the East Slovakian Roma were among the first migrants to choose the labour migration path to the UK. This article explores connections between the various forms of mobility of these Slovakian Roma. It focuses on their attempts to engage in existential mobility—which condition their physical movement to the place of destination—and on their hopes for upward socio-economic mobility. The paper shows how the successful returning migrants have established new hierarchies and contributed to the crystallising of an imaginary of ‘England as a great splendour’. It examines the idiom of ‘going up’, and argues for seeing the Roma's recent migration as a potential means by which to carve out a sense of a viable life and of autonomy amidst the oppressive circumstances and the asymmetrical relations they have with non-Roma dominant groups and non-related Roma. The article also explores the unequally distributed possibilities and inequalities that migrants encoun...

Diaspora Basques and Online Social Networks: An Analysis of Users of Basque Institutional Diaspora Groups on Facebook

Abstract: This paper presents the results of original user-based research regarding the Basque diaspora presence on social network sites (SNSs). It is the first academic investigation on the users of Basque diaspora-association groups on Facebook, the largest SNS on the Web. It focuses on the online and offline dimensions of the Basque institutional diaspora presence on the World Wide Web. By concentrating on the Basque diaspora case, I draw attention to the implications that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have on international migrant diasporas, with particular emphasis on how migrant associations and their members perform in a bid to accomplish their activities and goals. The present work opens new venues for future multi- and interdisciplinary analysis as well as comparative and longitudinal studies that could clearly be of interest to researchers, scholars and students of migration and ICTs.

Transnational Parenting and Immigration Law: Central Americans in the United States

Abstract: In recent years, many immigrant-receiving countries have implemented increasingly restrictive policies that include tighter border controls, more temporary worker permits, an increased threat of deportation, and greater restrictions on the ability to acquire permanent residence and to petition for family members Thus, family separation seems to be built into new immigration policies, and long-term and indefinite separations are not the exception In this article, I examine the case of the largest Central American immigrant groups: Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans Many of these immigrants are neither fully ‘undocumented’ nor ‘documented’, but often straddle both statuses as a result of having received a series of temporary permits over a period of more than a decade This legal instability profoundly influences parenting across borders among these immigrants—both the relations between parents and children who are separated, and the links between these immigrant families and the different institutio

Education and cultural integration among ethnic minorities and natives in the Netherlands: A test of the integration paradox

Abstract: This contribution sets out to identify the main determinants of two attitudinal indicators of cultural integration that figure in the construction of acculturation strategies: opposition toward ethnically mixed relationships and identification with the origin country. We derive our expectations from Social Identity Theory on the direct and indirect effects of education. To test our hypotheses we use data from the Survey on the Integration of Minorities 2006 (SIM 2006) and apply multiple mediator models. SIM 2006 covers random samples from the four largest ethnic-minority groups in the Netherlands—Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese and Antilleans—and a native Dutch comparison group. We do not consistently observe the presumed negative effect of education on opposition toward ethnically mixed relationships and identification with the origin country among ethnic minorities. On the contrary, the presumed beneficial impact of education on cultural integration is absent for second-generation migrants, which is consid...

Kirŏgi Families in the US: Transnational Migration and Education

Abstract: Changes in the form and function of the Korean family at the beginning of the twenty-first century are inextricably related to the process of globalisation. The kirŏgi family is one of several novel family types that have emerged since 1990. It is a split-household, transnational family with the mother and children moving to an English-speaking country for the children's education and the father staying behind in Korea to work and support the family. The kirŏgi family is a response to the challenges of rapid globalisation, to English as the global hegemonic language, to Korea's economic success and democratisation and to the rapid development of transportation and communication technology. Based on surveys and interviews with kirŏgi families in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we examine what makes the kirŏgi project worth considering, practicable and desirable, as these middle-class Korean families pursue success through education in the global arena.

Gender, Conflict and Subordination within the Household: Turkish Migrant Marriage and Divorce in Denmark

Abstract: The European-raised children of Turkish immigrants often marry spouses from their parents' home country. This article investigates the interplay between gender and residency when such transnational couples develop the culture of their newly formed households. While migration scholars state that such household culture is constructed as a ‘bricolage’ of elements from both the country of cultural origin and the present host country, they pay little attention to the influence of both gender and power on this process. Drawing on a body of life-story interviews, the article compares the narratives of one male and one female marriage migrant to Denmark, both of whose marriages ended in divorce. Life in these households, as well as their processes of dissolution, shows how Danish residency may empower the European spouse, regardless of gender. Although ethnic minority women raised in Europe may seek to use this power to shape their household culture into a more gender-equal ‘bricolage’, they may remain embedded w...

In the Dragon's Den: African Traders in Guangzhou

Abstract: A growing literature studies the Chinese diasporas in Africa, involved in the import and distribution of manufactured goods across the continent, identifying their economic and social strategies and their interactions with African urban and political life. In contrast, the counter-flow of African private traders to China has been relatively little studied, yet is part of significant changes in African economies and societies, and creates new interactions in Chinese cities. The commerce in which they have engaged since the introduction of the ‘Open Door’ policy and the subsequent rapid rise in bilateral trade has been undertaken through not only a period of booming international trade, but also a fuel crisis and a world financial crisis in 2008. This article explores the African diaspora in Guangzhou, China's major export hub. Drawing on ongoing work by the authors begun in 2005, it examines how the Guangzhou–Africa trade has changed over the period, what strategies have been adopted by migrants at the Guangzhou end of the value chain, and how their perceptions of their migration, their migrant community and their host city (and its perceptions of them) have changed over time. Findings are theorised in relation to grass-roots transnationalism.

Growing Up and Going Abroad: How Ghanaian Children Imagine Transnational Migration

Abstract: Migration scholars should give attention to migration as seen through children's eyes for at least two reasons. Firstly, children's perspectives help us to understand whether or not children are being socialised into their community's culture of migration, a culture which shapes migration patterns and flows. Secondly, given that some children migrate and some children are left behind by migrant parents or relatives, children's imaginings of whether they as children ought to migrate affect where the responsibility and costs for their care will be located between family members, countries and states. In this paper I examine how children aged 8–22 in a town in southern Ghana imagine life abroad, conceptualise the timing of migration in their life-course, and articulate their goals in migrating. I use this rich material as a case study for exploring the wider issues.