Migration Flashcards
Syrian Crisis
At least 60 million refugees globally
Migration
The movement of people from one place to another involving a change of residence and a distinct change to everyday life (rarely solely +ive or -ive experience)
Domestic Migration
Rural to urban movement or people moving between different cities/regions
International migration
Movement between countries
Voluntary Drivers
Explorers, Traders, Settlers, Sojourners, Guest Workers - in search of opportunities
Involuntary Drivers
Displacement, Refugees, Asylum Seekers - in search of safety
Migration Through History
Migration has long history and is central to the cultural diversification of nation states
Push and Pull Factors of Migration
- Expansion of human population
- Need/want for extra resources or space
- The rise and fall of different civilisations
- Escape from conflict, persecution and poverty
- Opportunities provided by technological advancements and cultural shifts
Migration as a profound experience
- A fundamental part of history, culture and society
- Process for the spread of ideas, language, goods, technology
- In the 21st century, more people are moving than ever before
(involve considerable loss and sacrifice but also new opportunities)
Migration is an intense and challenging process that involves
- disruption of the ‘taken-for-granted’ aspects of daily life and one’s identity
- ” of support systems and sense of belonging
- a need to adapt and adjust to what is unfamiliar and new
- familial relations can change as when a child interprets for parents
- learning to recognise and response to new forms and social settings
- preserving aspects of one’s culture of origin and related identities
Pros for Migrants
New opportunities, learning and personal growth, escape from restrictive traditions, a new start, hope and renewal
Cons for Migrants
Disruption and dislocation, status, sense of not belonging, racism and marginalisation, difficulties with integration, unemployment, language barriers, lack of support networks, feelings of grief
Pros for Host Communities
A richer more diverse culture, a brain gain, filling of labour shortages, wider international connections, changes to host culture
Cons for Host Communities
Competition for jobs, housing and other resources, overcrowding, downward wage pressure, conflict over religion and cultural values
Culture Shock
- seeks to explain the disorientation of being in an unfamiliar context
- focuses on early-stage adjustment
- seeks to capture relocation and settlement process
- what is strange, mundane practices, food etc.
- show different stages of emotional or psychological reactions
- reflects the discipline’s fascination with ‘models’ and statistics
(critique - model can be pathologising)
Limitations of Acculturation Theory
- oversimplifies individual and community responses to migration
- largely ignores context - the impacts of particular settings and dynamics of intergroup relations
- largely ignores the practicalities of migrants’ everyday lives
- tends to homogenise cultural groups - differences in access to resources of various groups not explored
- does not explain ways receiving communities include or exclude migrants
Marginalisation
To marginalise is to treat a person, group or practice as insignificant, unimportant and peripheral (key factor in underlying disadvantage, discrimination and inequality)
Social Identity Theory
- how we come to understand the self in relation to others
- how we gain and maintain group memberships
- importance of a positive self-concept
- a framework for understanding discrimination between groups
- positions psychological processes in specific social, cultural and historical contexts
Model minority myth
A minority group whose members are perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average
Model minority myth involves
- Fosters internalised racism within certain Asian communities against other communities of Colour
- Divides People of Colour
- Create “good” immigrants and “bad” immigrants
- Erases Asian Identity
- It is used to deny racial justice
- Erases shared histories of oppression and of solidarity
