mass migration

• has global migration really accelerated?

  No
• migration between 1846 and 1900

  48 million europeans emigrated

  17 million ppl left the British Isles
• In high income countries what percentage of the total population do international migrants constitute?

  14%
• Macro explanation of mass migration

  socio-economic and political inequalities between countries = crucial for explaining migration

  
  

  "push and pull" model of migration
• explain the push and pull model of migration

  push: induce ppl to leave their location

  pull: prompt ppl to move to a new location

  + intervening obstacles
• meso explanations to mass migration

  meso factors:

  chain migration, social/professional networks, gov policies, employment schemes, remittances

  
  

  migration = web of social and spacial interactions
• remittances


  migrants abroad sending money home
• chain migration


  the social process by which immigrants from a particular area follow others from that area to a particular destination
• micro explanations to mass migration

  household and individual characteristics

  
  

  (age, gender, skills - social, economic and cultural capital - "mobility" culture and affective relations with migrant communities abroad)
• 6 forms of migration

  emigration

  immigration

  colonization

  migration to cities

  seasonal migration (seasonal work)

  soldiers and sailors
• emigration


  Migration from Europe to non-European destinations, including colonial, overseas migration
• immigration


  Migration from other continents to Europe
• selectivity in migration


  individual characteristics

  
  

  - typically unskilled

  - male adults dominate (households only feature as important minority)

  - low parental wealth, high number of children (inheritance laws)
• economic inequalities on a macro level

  - wage gap between old and new worlds (push/pull)

  - pop growth: pop surplus in Europe - wage competition
• paradoxical findings macro emigration

  • Emigration rates were not always highest for the poorest countries

  
  

  • Emigration rates sometimes rose when successful economic developmenttook place at home
• meso explanations to paradoxical findings macro emigration

  • Cost of migration: strong incentive to flee pre-industrial poverty, yet high costs may inhibit most workers

  
  

  • As the stock of emigrants abroad increases, so do their remittances home : emigration rises even when domestic wages rise
• 19th C migration: dynamic phenomenon

  macro + meso

  
  

  Macro: push and pull (population surplus, wage gap and convergence)

  Meso:- "friends and relatives"- transport improvements
• Wilbur Zelinksi's modernisation thesis

  industrialisation and the creation of a modern market caused a break-up of traditional societies
• Wilbur Zelinksi's modernisation thesis main assumptions (2)

  pre- modern societies were stable and self-sufficient; limiting mobility

  
  

  industrialisation accelerated mobility rates and expanded migration
• In keeping with the modernisation paradigm, migration was conceived as primarily:

  • Push-driven

  • New

  • One-directional

  • Originating from miserable living conditions

  • Leading to a rural exodus

  → A one-time transfer of population to (new) urban centers

  → A transition from agrarian to modern society
• Important revisions to Wilbur Zelinksi's thesis

  - early modern period was less static than assumed

  - migration is not uni-directional

  - high rate of return migration softens "break-up" of traditional, agrarian societies
• conclusion to revisions on Wilbur Zelinksi's thesis

  industrialisation is not the prime cause of mass migration in the 19th C

  
  

  → But improvements in transportation, as the result of industrialisation, played an important role in accelerating and intensifying migration
• Pooley and Turnbull studying family histories + great stabililty in patterns of modern British migration

  • Although long distance migration increases throughout 19th century, predominant pattern remains that of short-distance movements, typically within the same region

  
  

  • Especially skilled workers migrated greater distances

  
  

  • No evidence of a real rural exodus: in addition to rural to urban migrations, also evidence of return migration (urban to rural) and rural to rural migration

  
  

  • Gender: female and male migration patterns overlap largely, suggesting they may have travelled together
• migration Duisburg example according to Jackson (establishment of an iron smelting plant in the 1950s)


  • 1850: 13.000 residents

  1890: 58.000

  1910: 230.000

  
  

  • Rising volume and rate of migration but with considerable cyclical variation

  
  

  • A rising rate of turnover (transition migration)

  
  

  • A balancing of incoming and outgoing migration (return and to other cities)

  
  

  • 1/3 of migrants came from within 25km periphery (a days walk), 1/3 from within 99 km periphery

  
  

  • Migration within a restricted geographical field→No "disintegration" of sending/receiving communities

  
  

  • High level of return migration attests to the great attachment to origin community

  
  

  • Migration = limited to early adulthood; other age groups = residential stability
• Dutch and migration


  early precursor of European mobility (North Sea system, high wages, international labour market
• Russia and migration


  even with its feudal regime, it was much less static than often presumed; Russian state-formation promoted colonization and military migration, weakness of state allowed for slave trade

  
  

  • end of serfdom (1861): boost of seasonal migration, city migration, long-distance emigration
• Revisions to the "mobility transition" thesis - yes (2)

  • Yes, a sharp increase after 1850s (industrialisation and improvements in transport facilities)

  • Yes, rural to city migration, often jump-start for trans-atlantic migration
• Revisions to the "mobility transition" thesis - no (2)

  • No, "newness" of migration should not be overstated

  
  

  • The increase is primarily evidencing an acceleration of cross-community migration; persistence of regional migration patterns

  
  

  • Acceleration facilitated by cheaper/faster transport and stock of emigrants abroad (remittances)

  
  

  • No, it did not cause a complete breakdown of "traditional" societies

  
  

  • Migration was not one-off, and uni-directional

  
  

  • Return migration evidences a respect and identification with traditional, origin communities