Migration in the United Kingdom: Sociology, Policy, and Statistics

The Sociology of Migration: Definitions and Frameworks

The history of humanity is also the history of migration, according to Professor Harzig and colleagues. The original Homo sapiens migrated out of East Africa and spread slowly across the world (Harzig, 2009, p. 8). Essentially, migration is the cross-border activity that individuals carry out in order to relocate for a number of potential purposes.

The five basic aspects of migration are as follows: (a) migration "within a cultural group" that seeks different geographic locations for purposes as varied as hunting or marriage; (b) migration of "segments of a cultural group into new, unsettled areas," called "outbound branching" or "filiation migration"; (c) "colonization migration," which involves moving into already settled areas to "establish rule over the peoples" already there — essentially, conquest; (d) "whole-community migration," the dynamic that occurs when a group's survival is being threatened or when "neighbors [are] becoming destructive" and it is time to move; and (e) "cross-community migration," which relates to peaceful moves into "another group's social space" or the "involuntary transport of slaves or captives" (Harzig, p. 10).

Citizenship, Globalization, and the 'Other'

Authors Stephen Castles and Alastair Davidson explain that the concept of citizenship had not truly been a topic of great interest until recent years. That has been changing, however, as some states have revised their rules regarding access to citizenship for migrants, for children of migrants, and for other minorities who find their way into those states. Changes in government leadership have had a profound effect on how citizenship is interpreted and what policies toward citizenship and migration are instituted.

Ideally, the authors assert, "all the inhabitants of a territory" should be integrated into the "political community," and they should enjoy "their political equality as citizens" (Castles et al., 2000, p. 2). That said, it is also true that "relatively few nations match this democratic ideal" today, even though between the 17th and 19th centuries the political systems of nation-states "were astonishingly effective, in both internal and external terms" (Castles, p. 3). Those political systems "facilitated the integration of diverse groups into cohesive populations," Castles notes. In the meantime, globalization has ushered in changes to nation-states: the rich have become richer, there are more poor people, and in many instances "the middle classes [have been] eroded" in "virtually all the older industrialized countries," including England (Castles, p. 5).

The key aspect of globalization as it applies to migration is that it has "undermined the ideology of distinct and relatively autonomous national cultures," Castles explains (p. 7). These national cultures were always a "myth" in any case, because "virtually every nation-state has been made up of ethnic groups" that had their own traditions, languages, points of origin, and cultural values (Castles, p. 7). Today, a person from such an ethnic group is an "Other" until he or she can become a citizen. Another product of globalization — and a key theme of this paper — is that because of the "rapidly increasing mobility of people across national borders," populations have become "more heterogeneous and culturally diverse"; however, cultural diversity and "social marginalization" are frequently linked (Castles, p. 8). This dynamic has led to the creation of ethnic minorities experiencing "disadvantages and relatively isolated positions in society," Castles continues.

A pointed question raised by Castles is being asked worldwide by scholars and leaders pushing for democratic policies: "Can these Others be submitted to a process of acculturation… which will reduce them to nationals and thus qualify them for membership in the nation-state?" (p. 9).