Jørgen Carling

The Human Dynamics of Migrant Transnationalism

Abstract How is migrant transnationalism shaped by the human dynamics of relationships between migrants and non-migrants? This question is addressed through an analysis of asymmetries between migrants and non-migrants in three spheres of transnational life: the moralities of transnationalism, information and imagination in transnational relations, and transnational resource inequalities. Understanding transnational practices such as sending remittances and facilitating migration, it is argued, requires attention to the dynamics of the relationships between individuals. Fieldwork material from Cape Verde and the Netherlands is combined with secondary literature from other parts of the world in order to develop an analytical framework for comparative research.

Migration Control and Migrant Fatalities at the Spanish-African Borders

This article addresses the dynamics of migration control along the Spanish-African borders and the associated problem of migrant deaths. The past decade and a half has seen rising numbers of migration attempts, large investments in control measures, and resulting geographical and organizational responses on the part of smugglers. Advanced surveillance and interception infrastructure on the border is a necessary but far from sufficient element in controlling unauthorized migration. The growth in the number of migrant deaths seems to result from an increased number of migration attempts. The risk of dying in the attempt appears to be constant or slightly falling.

Central Themes in the Study of Transnational Parenthood

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 childrens 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 technological, economic and psychological factors. The final theme, moralities, concerns the ways in which context-specific behavioural norms guide transnational parenthood. We subsequently discuss how the age of children is an important differentiating factor in the experience of transnational parenthood. In addition to these thematic discussions, we address methodological issues in the study of the phenomenon. Throughout, we emphasise both the limitations and the dynamism of transnational parenthood as it is experienced and practised in different contexts and throughout the life course.

On the edge of the Chinese diaspora: The surge of baihuo business in an African city

Since the first Chinese shop opened in Cape Verde in 1995, this remote archipelago has experienced a wave of Chinese entrepreneurial immigration that has transformed local retail and significantly affected peoples purchasing power. During this process, Chinese migrants have seen profit margins fall and now complain that there are too many Chinese in Cape Verde. This article explores the migration dynamics that have characterized the pioneer phase of Chinese immigration, and the migrants’ understanding of their own position in relation to the Chinese diaspora. Furthermore, it discusses how the characteristics of the local economy and the resources of the Chinese migrants have interacted to form the basis for Chinese settlement. The article examines the process of market saturation, and relates responses to market saturation to a conceptual framework developed on the basis of literature on Chinese migration to Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Mobility, moralities and motherhood : Navigating the contingencies of Cape Verdean lives

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 unforeseen incidents and obstacles, which we refer to as contingencies. We relate these contingencies to the negotiation of individual and collective ideas and aspirations. The Cape Verdean case is interesting in a comparative perspective because of the social acceptance of mother–child separation. Our analysis explores how this acceptance co-exists with the real-life challenges of transnational mothering.

Protecting Europe and Protecting Migrants? Strategies for Managing Unauthorised Migration from Africa

This article addresses the management of unauthorised migration from Africa to Europe. We review eight policy measures and explore how they relate to prominent policy narratives, centred on security, co-operation and protection of migrants. We also examine the specific mechanisms through which the policy measures function: direct control, deterrence and dissuasion. Analysis of policy narratives helps explain the ascendance of externalised migration control, such as pre-border patrolling. Furthermore, our analysis shows how the narrative of protection can be aligned with direct control measures and constitute a double-edged sword for migrants. The text focuses on maritime migration from West Africa to Spains Canary Islands. We draw in part on ethnographic data from fieldwork in Senegal in order to assess the impact of specific measures on the target population of prospective migrants.

Scripting Remittances: Making Sense of Money Transfers in Transnational Relationships†

This article proposes a conceptual framework for studying remittances as social transactions that can take a number of different forms. For the past three decades, the dominant framework for understanding remittance relationships has been the continuum of senders’ motives from altruism to self-interest. This approach has its roots in economics and has shaped much of the quantitative research on remittances. In parallel, a growing body of ethnographic research has examined transnational money transfers with perspectives and data that differ from those of economists. The insights from these ethnographic studies are valuable, but remain fragmented and marginal in research on remittances. Two key points emerge from the ethnographic literature: Remittances are at the core of composite transactions with material, emotional, and relational elements, and there is great variation in the nature and logic of these transactions. The framework proposed here is designed to engage with both complexity and variation. It systematically draws upon a large body of ethnographic literature and introduces remittance scripts as an analytical tool.

How does Conflict in Migrants’ Country of Origin Affect Remittance‐Sending? Financial Priorities and Transnational Obligations Among Somalis and Pakistanis in Norway

This article examines how conflict in the country of origin interacts with other factors in shaping migrants’ remittance-sending practices. Our data come from a survey of 10 immigrant groups in Norway and semi-structured interviews with Somali and Pakistani remittance-senders and receivers. First, we conduct an in-depth comparison to explore the differences in how Somali and Pakistani migrants decide about remittance-sending. Second, we use survey data on all 10 migrant groups to evaluate whether the differences that are not explained by socioeconomic characteristics, may partly reflect whether or not there is ongoing conflict in the country of origin. In our analyses we differentiate between (1) the effect of migrants’ capacity to remit and their prioritizing of local and transnational expenditures, and (2) the impact of state collapse and absence of human security on migrants’ and refugees’ desire to remit. We find that ongoing conflict in the country of origin exerts an upward pressure on remittance-sending.

Toward a Demography of Immigrant Communities and Their Transnational Potential

This article lays out a foundation for a demographic perspective on the development of immigrant communities. Such a perspective can strengthen the connections between in-depth ethnographic analysis and macro-level trends. New applications of the so-called Lexis diagram are introduced in order to relate the current composition of immigrant communities to past immigration policy and migration patterns. The article also explores relationships between the demographic structure of immigrant populations and their transnational orientation. The analyses are demonstrated empirically through a case study of migration from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.

Aspiration, desire and drivers of migration

ABSTRACT Introducing a special journal issue by the same title, this article provides a foundation for seven other articles with a theoretical mission to better understand the forces and frictions through which migration comes about and is experienced. The collection seeks to contribute to migration theory by considering crosscutting themes related to the concepts of aspiration, desire and drivers of migration. This introductory article locates the three concepts within the development of migration scholarship. First, we show how a reappraisal of theory is grounded in influential developments in migration scholarship, such as the transnational turn, feminist approaches and, more recently, a growing theoretical interest in emotions and temporalities. Second, we examine the ways in which ‘aspiration’ and ‘desire’ have figured in migration theory. Sometimes treated as synonyms, the terms both belong to a broader semantic field of potentiality, yet connect with different theoretical approaches. Third, we address the rise of ‘drivers of migration’ as an analytical concept, noting how it seems to be replacing ‘causes’ and ‘determinants’ in the literature.