Globalization and Migration in the 21st Century: Looking Back into the Future

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Ryan, Jan
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	Introduction The aim of this paper is to critically analyze the interconnectedness of migration and globalization. By focusing on Chinese migrations this study will identify and elucidate migration forms and patterns within differing cultural and political global environments. The feminization of migration is frequently quoted in publications, but this research specifically seeks to explain the gender swing to the predominance of women migrants in some cultures and their link to specific work categories. These issues will be contextualized within globalization. While challenging the current scholarship on the Chinese diasporas the paper will investigate the changing relationship between the overseas Chinese and China. There is a great deal to be learnt in an investigation of the Chinese diasporas, in both the historical sense and in the context of twenty first century globalization. From the nineteenth century Chinese migrants have been global--yet they have also adopted nationalistic sentiments, diasporic and strategic loyalties, and a complex relationship with China. By examining the Chinese diasporas we can appreciate the diversity and complexity of twenty-first century migrations and the way migrant groups test the migrant strategies of governments today. The paper aims to illicit, through the study of Chinese sojourners and settlers, the changes in migration patterns, and will seek to understand these shifts. (2) An investigation in the changing relationship between Chinese migrants and China, as an extension of these arguments, can offer legitimate directives for government planning and policy. Interconnectedness between migration and globalization Sarah Spencer argues that there are 'few issues that are of such significance to civilization, or so consistently present on international, state and local political agendas, as migration'. 'The movement of people between nation-states has been a constant feature of history ... but the recent pace and breadth of mobility ...' is significant. (3) The global experience of migration may be long-standing, but Spencer argues that few countries manage it well. Dramatic shifts in the geography of the world population have occurred since World War Two. In 1950 the less developed countries composed of just over two-thirds of the world's population and by 2000, this proportion had increased to four-fifths. Asian countries make up three-fifths of the world's population and over 21% live in China with 17% living in India. (4) Population growth is fueled by levels of fertility, mortality, and net migration. Percy Kraly argues that as 'well as influencing population change, the movement of persons within and among countries is both a cause and a consequence of social, economic, political and environmental factors' with one of the most 'visible manifestations of globalization' being the 'increasing scale of international population movements throughout all regions of the world'. (5) Conversely, Castles and Millar prioritize migration as one of the most important factors leading to global change. (6) Sassen further writes that immigration is one of the constitutive processes of globalization today. (7) Papastergiadis estimates that there are '100 million international migrants and 27 million stateless refugees worldwide' and there are 'more people living in places that are outside their homeland than at any previous point in history'. (8) There are considerable shifts in migration patterns and increasingly diversified migrant 'types' coming from differing economic, social and cultural backgrounds. Migrants have a huge impact on both the sending and receiving countries. For instance they are believed to remit over $67 billion annually to their homelands, (9) and if accurate, this figure would place labour second only to oil in world trade. (10) General trends identified in recent global migrations suggest there are more countries affected, with more migrants coming from a diversity of areas. …
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Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article