Stephen Castles

Citizenship and migration : globalization and the politics of belonging

Preface.- The Crisis of Citizenship.- Theories of Citizenship.- Immigration, Minority Formation and Racialization.- Becoming a Citizen.- Being a Citizen.- Ethnic Mobilization and New Political Subjects.- The End of National Belonging.- Globalization and Citizenship in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Social Capital and the New Civics.- Postscript: Citizenship or Chaos.- Bibliography.

Towards a Sociology of Forced Migration and Social Transformation

Forced migration - including refugee flows, asylum seekers, internal displacement and development-induced displacement - has increased considerably in volume and political significance since the end of the Cold War. It has become an integral part of North-South relationships and is closely linked to current processes of global social transformation. This makes it as important for sociologists to develop empirical research and analysis on forced migration as it is to include it in their theoretical understandings of contemporary society. The study of forced migration is linked to research on economic migration, but has its own specific research topics, methodological problems and conceptual issues. Forced migration needs to be analysed as a social process in which human agency and social networks play a major part. It gives rise to fears of loss of state control, especially in the context of recent concerns about migration and security. In this context, it is essential to question earlier sociological approaches, which have been based on the principle of relatively autonomous national societies. The sociology of forced migration must be a transnational and interdisciplinary undertaking.

Why migration policies fail

Abstract Immigration and asylum are key political issues in Britain and the European Union. Yet the policies of states and supranational bodies seem to have had little success in preventing unwanted flows and effectively managing immigration and integration. This article examines three types of reasons for policy failure: factors arising from the social dynamics of the migratory process; factors linked to globalization and the North-South divide; and factors arising within political systems. Key issues include the role of migrant agency, the way the North-South divide encourages flows, and hidden agendas in national policies. EU efforts attempts to address the root causes of migration in countries of origin are discussed. The article concludes that migration policies might be more successful if they were explicitly linked to long-term political agendas concerned with trade, development and conflict prevention. Reducing North-South inequality is the real key to effective migration management.

Migration and Community Formation under Conditions of Globalization

This article sets out to rethink the dynamics of the migratory process under conditions of globalization. Two main models of migration and incorporation dominated academic and policy approaches in the late twentieth century: first, the settler model, according to which immigrants gradually integrated into economic and social relations, re-united or formed families and eventually became assimilated into the host society (sometimes over two or three generations); second, the temporary migration model, according to which migrant workers stayed in the host country for a limited period, and maintained their affiliation with their country of origin. Globalization, defined as a proliferation of cross-border flows and transnational networks, has changed the context for migration. New technologies of communication and transport allow frequent and multi-directional flows of people, ideas and cultural symbols. The erosion of nation-state sovereignty and autonomy weakens systems of border-control and migrant assimilation. The result is the transformation of the material and cultural practices associated with migration and community formation, and the blurring of boundaries between different categories of migrants. These trends will be illustrated through case-studies of a number of Asian and European immigration countries. It is important to re-think our understanding of the migratory process, to understand new forms of mobility and incorporation, particularly the emergence of transnational communities, multiple identities and multi-layered citizenship.

Guestworkers in Europe: A Resurrection?

Around 1974, most Western European countries abandoned migrant labor recruitment, and introduced restrictive entry rules. Today, policymakers are reexamining temporary migrant worker programs. This article examines demographic, economic, and social pressures for labor recruitment, discusses temporary migrant worker programs in Germany and the United Kingdom, and examines the European Commissions 2005 Policy Plan for Legal Migration. Current approaches differ significantly from the past and there is no question of a general return to labor recruitment policies. However, todays policies do share some common features with past guestworker programs, and may lead to negative social outcomes in both receiving and sending countries.

Understanding Global Migration: A Social Transformation Perspective

This article aims to examine some of the difficulties of theory formation in international migration studies, and to suggest a response. The starting point is an examination of the dominant perception of ‘migration as a problem’. This is followed by a discussion of some key obstacles to theoretical advancement in migration studies. I argue that a general theory of migration is neither possible nor desirable, but that we can make significant progress by re-embedding migration research in a more general understanding of contemporary society, and linking it to broader theories of social change across a range of social scientific disciplines. A conceptual framework for migration studies should take social transformation as its central category, in order to facilitate understanding of the complexity, interconnectedness, variability, contexuality and multi-level mediations of migratory processes in the context of rapid global change. This would mean examining the links between social transformation and human mobility across a range of socio-spatial levels, while always seeking to understand how human agency can condition responses to structural factors. The argument is illustrated through the example of the changing dynamics of labour forces in highly developed countries.

The Factors that Make and Unmake Migration Policies

Migration policies often fail to achieve their declared objectives or have unintended consequences. This article discusses three sets of reasons for this: factors arising from the social dynamics of the migratory process; factors linked to globalization and transnationalism; and factors within political systems. Effective policies are often hampered by the one-sided explanatory models used to explain migration, as well as by interest conflicts in both domestic and international politics. In many cases this leads to migration policies with contradictory objectives or hidden agendas. The article goes on to discuss some elements of a conceptual framework for improving policy formation and possible components of fairer and more effective migration policies at the national, regional and global levels.

International Migration at the Beginining of the Twenty‐First Century: Global Trends and Issues

Globalisation leads to increases in all kinds of cross-border flows, including movements of people. In recent years international migrationhas grown in volume, and is now an important factor of social transformation in all regions of the world. States classify migrants into certain categories, and seek to encourage certain types of mobility while restricting others. However,control measures are often ineffective if they are not based on understanding of the economic, social and cultural dynamics of migration. The article reviews causes and patterns of migration, and discusses some key issues: migration anddevelopment, international cooperation, settle-ment and ethnic diversity, and migration as a challenge to the nation-state. It is argued that most national governments have taken a short-term and reactive approach to migration. Effortsat international regulation are also relatively under-developed. There is a need for long-term cooperative strategies to achieve agreed goals such as: ensuring orderly migration and preventing exploitation by agents and recruiters;safeguarding the human rights of migrants; making migration an instrument of sustainable development; avoiding conflicts with populations of migrant-receiving areas, and maximising positive aspects of social and culturalchange.

How nation‐states respond to immigration and ethnic diversity

Abstract Large scale migrations since 1945 have led to major changes in the ethnic composition of most highly‐developed countries. Nations have responded in a variety of ways, which have helped determine patterns of ethnic group formation. This article suggest a typology of policy models: the differential exclusion model, the assimilation model, and the pluralist model. Examples are discussed for each model. The models are then linked to different historical patterns of nation‐state formation. The differential exclusion model, which is based on the desire to prevent permanent settlement, has proved very hard to maintain because it leads to social tension and because it contradicts the democratic principle of including all members of civil society in the nation‐state. Countries applying the assimilation model have generally moved to a mixed approach, embodying some elements of the pluralist model. This has led to difficulties, because of contradictions between explicit goals and actual policies. Pluralist ...

The guest-worker in Western Europe--an obituary.

Most West European countries recruited guest-workers (temporary labor migrants) to fuel the postwar boom. The significance of this flexible and mobile labor source is examined for six countries. The dynamics of the migratory process led to family reunification and settlement, against the original intentions of the workers, employers and states concerned. The recruitment of guest-workers stopped after 1974, but many migrants stayed on, becoming permanent ethnic minorities, in a situation of economic and social crisis. It is argued that guest-worker systems inevitably lead to permanent migration in the long run, and that it is better to plan for orderly settlement through appropriate policies.