WHY IMMIGRATION? By
Saskia Sassen
By this article and presentation, we will
search the answer of “Why are policies so ineffective?” Not any other country
receives as much as America does; people generally migrate to the USA because
over the past 30 years, U.S. plays a very important role in the global economy.
Sassen’s main argument is that migration is driven by historical and ongoing
linkages that have been crafted between the USA and other countries, which
create bridges for migration. We can say that the USA serves as a bridge for
migration. America took some measures to decrease emigration but they all
generally had opposite effects by encouraging migration. Above, the reasons of
immigration are listed (high population growth, vast poverty and economic
stagnation). However, they do not experience large scale emigration. For
example, all migrant-sending countries are not poor like South Korea and
Taiwan. The real reasons for migration are the linkages which were created by
the U.S. government. Labor demand is also an important part of migration
analysis.
During the semester, when we talk about
migration, we say that people migrate in order to find job, get better
education and they migrate mostly to countries that are geographically near to
them such as Mexico and America. And, generally say that these are the
characteristics of migration. However, as Saskia Sassen says, we have to go
beyond concept of national borders. We have to think about global economy and
its consequences such as unequal job opportunities and unequal developments
that forced people to immigrate.
Throughout the American history, lots of acts
and laws were passed to stop and decrease the migration. However most of them
were not useful. On the contrary of it, they created an opposite effect by
encouraging the immigration. The data she provides make it clear, why it is so.
Therefore, we agree with the writer because she makes very clever statements.
Moreover, she supports her idea with the datas. The article easily affects the
reader. So far, we always talked about other reasons of migration but this text
provides us a new and different perspective. The historical evidences she gives
are also very efficient to make the argument persuasive.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHHNuc-1uA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOSsUeWPQw
Questions:
1)
Is it possible
to understand the dynamics of contemporary migration without a historical
account of global economy?
2)
What
is your responses to the text and what Sassen talks about? Do you think that
the main reason why America receives so many immigrants is because of it’s role
in global economy?
Works Cited
Saskia Sassen. "Why Migration?" N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Freimaginerpe.org%2Fnode%2F956>.
Berivan Uğurlu- Pınar Ilgar
First of all thanks Berivan and Pınar for the informative presentation. I couldn't have a chance to see your presentation but i read your blog it is also very clear.
ReplyDeleteI think migrating America and seeing it as a land of freedom and new opportunities is a very appropriate thought or point of view for the migrants migrating from poorer countries because these people have not any chance, their countries are poor, there is unemployment and lack of education in their countries and they sometimes even come face to face with death because of their great famine and they sometimes are not able to shelter for them and all their aim is not to go hungry and need only a small piece of bread just for their survival. In this situation, their searching for job opportunities and better education for finding a new job in USA is firstly the natural, personal instict for them where is land of freedom and new opportunities as i emphasized at the beginning of my writing.
When thinking the historical background of the economy of USA it is not hard to understand why it is preferred to migrate to because USA has been having a great power especially in economy and it has a enough base and potential for detaching the immigrants and can provide them lots of job opportunities or at least for a great number of them. Thinking its economy in global context sharpens America between another countries in terms of economic power. It is not possible to think the contemporary migrations without a historical account of global economy because this migration is basically and directly related with the economic power of USA if USA hadn't had that kind of great economic power,migrants wouldn't have highly hoped from USA for a better job opportunities and for better education chances that much.; This migration issue is mainly and mostly about the America's great economic power.
As Saskia Sassen points out in her essay named Why Migration ? "Immigrants are more likely than U.S. citizens to gravitate toward these jobs: they are poorly paid, offer little employment security, generally require few skills and little knowledge of English, and frequently involve undesirable evening or weekend shifts" (pg.14). As it is visible in this quote of Saskia Sassen, America seems to be benefit from their desperation and want them to fit with the very harsh conditions that any white US citizen man accept to fit these because immigrants have no other choice rather than accepting and obeying that very harsh working conditions mmigrants at first sight aims to reach the land of the USA and cross the borders after entering USA, they just expect to have any job in which they can earn enough money for maintaining their lives they just want to be able to last their survival in short. As Saskia Sassen also mentions the corruption of highly educated, skilled immigtant(non-white) man because of his just becoming an immirant and have to migrate to the USA just for his survival, Sassen claims this by saying like; "Significantly, even immigrants who are highly educated and skilled when they arrive in the United States tend to gravitate toward the low-wage sectors of the economy"(pg.14).
Just because this immigration situation, just because of this tag on them, they are not able to maintain their career apart from their survival, as they can not maintain their career not even rise in their career, their careers are corrupted and regressed because of their immigration identity which is gummed on them which goes with them wherever they go or in everything they do (like a job application, a school registry etc.) on the lands of USA.
Özge BAŞAK
Hi Özge: thank was a very thoughtful response to the blog, using some great examples from the text to support your summaries and analysis. Very nice commentary here! -Jennifer
DeleteThanks for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteSaskia Sassen’s text was giving another look at the immigration issue, for a more global way because it has some elements of neo-liberalism, capitalism and in some extend America’s economy. America, as we all know, driven by the neo-liberal economy, which means “free market”. Free market is, in my opinion, worst thing that an economy and more importantly small enterprises dealing with in today’s economy. It lets the big companies to get bigger but failing the mid-class to the ground, basically. Because it does not let the mobility on “social strata” it may not let anyone to get promotions etc. which is a bad thing because the economy won’t stay stable internally. It is a detailed and long situation to explain neo-liberalism but the main reason of importance is, the American Dream is based on Neo-Liberal economic opportunities, and immigration is directly linked to the same idea. So in that sense, it is not possible to understand without historical context of capitalism and Neo-Liberal economy, also the economic revolution or at least reading the Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
The difference that divide this presentation from others is we are looking immigration as a “good” fact for the first time. I still have issues that is good or not but, as Pınar mentioned on the beginning, not all the countries poor and immigrants are undocumented, there are real successful immigrants in America. That reminds me, the skilled workers, so called professionals are being invisible in immigration issue, when we think that some Mexicans, Asians or others were skilled workers or not? That was not important because we were discussing the suffrage they are in. This time we are looking in a broader sense with the text because it gives the importance that immigrants are dealing an impact to the American economy. Of course I see several examples like the south-park, in one scene the Mexicans was banned in South park and the grasses front of the houses were grown badly. As this example showed, they are doing minimal jobs mostly but eventually they are on the economy in every department.
What Sassen discussing is encouraging migration to the United States will create new opportunities for both immigrants and countries. In theory, it could be possible to think that but in practice it won’t be different than “Asylum system” because there will be an interaction to a person, who have personal ideas, ideologies and personal distinctions that will drive his/her judgment. Yes it is possible with the given data to say that, the reason is mainly economic opportunities, but there were other reasons, like wars, the lifestyle, personal choices and more. However the fact that people are (documented ones at least) most of them succeeded when they migrated to U.S. but that does not cover up for each legislature that aid or beat the immigrants through the history. What I do not understand from the text is why we did not discussed some successful people that achieved to be a “citizen” and having a normal or higher economic household in America?
Thanks
Serhat BAŞAK
You ask a good question, Serhat. And my answer is simple and rather lame: time. If we had more time in this course, we would spend more time linking Sassen's article to a greater explanation of neoliberal economic theory (although I understand that you have discussed this in Craig's courses, so I did not feel like I had to explain much of it) and we would have talked about middle-class migrants and connected them to Americanah. So, I can answer that you can think of Adichie's text as an example of a migrant who moves, not out of economic necessity to pursue low-wage work, but an example of a middle-class migrant who *does* find success in the USA, even if she ultimately becomes disillusioned and returns home. We could also look at short stories by the South Asian American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, who writes about middle and upper class migrants from India and Bangladesh in her fiction. Their stories are different, but they are still the result of ALL the different kinds of migration theories we have learned about in class. Of course, no one theory explain ALL kinds of migration. In most cases, migrants are operating under a combination of different motivations, both personal and structural. Thanks for raising some good ideas here. --Jennifer
DeleteThanks for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be building upon what I wrote under the blog post for the previous presentation rather than repeat what I had said back then, so please keep those in mind. This is more or less a continuation of and an addendum to all that.
One thing that I’d like to oppose to is the misunderstanding of free market economics. I consider myself a classical liberal –one that is rather angered by neoliberalism due to its obliteration of the meaning of the word “liberal”- and would like to make a few amendments.
Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, does not propose an absolutely “free” market devoid of any sort of role left for government whatsoever. Just on the contrary, it’s Smith’s one of foremost concerns that the lower classes would be appropriately “defended”, so to speak. The expression “free market”, therefore, is rather a comparative metaphor, not an absolute definition.
Although I can talk for hours on how the term liberalism in economics is largely misunderstood and misused nowadays (Thanks USA!), this isn’t really the place to expand on this. But, I would really suggest reading the Wealth of Nations, regardless of your views on economics. Wonderful read, really. (On another note, the US really has nothing to do with free market economics, it’s quite literally anything but.)
(Just googled it, there seems to be mobile apps of the book for just a buck. Or for free, depending on the OS.)
Retreating to the topic at hand, I really agree with Jennifer’s point on American Culture having a global influence; as in it’s practically everywhere. Even when compared to other English-speaking countries, say the UK or Australia, the US is better-known than any other country on the planet. And the fact that English is the main language spoken over there only supplements this point. The average person speaks their language, eats their food, drives their cars, uses their technology on a daily basis, watches their movies and listens to their songs, dreams of their dreams, follows their ambitions etc. There are even those who quite literally fights their wars (Iraq), studies their culture (That would be us) and whatnot. All in all, it’s a destination already-known, a destination better-known than any other.
Just when commenting on this blog of ours, I am writing on an American website, using American software and OS running on American hardware. Even the idea of blogging is entirely American in origin, as is Social networking.
Putting internalization aside, even when you think of the large waves of Mexican immigration, it is really possible that the US feels closer –not geographically- than the Spanish-speaking countries to the South. But of course, this is just a mere guess, it’d be really hard to put these in numbers and statistics.
Furthermore, I believe this is why military intervention usually results in an increase in immigration. No army has ever brought weapons and weapons only; and very few left the invaded territory without making alterations. The US is perhaps the modern champion of bringing in their ways to the invaded country, closing the cultural gap in between. And it is quite possible that it is not the entire population that resents the military action.
The documentary on Jamaica seems really interesting, by the way. I’ll make sure to watch the entire thing at some point. However, based on the part we watched, I’d rather blame the Jamaican government than the IDB or the IMF –not to glorify these guys, mind you. Considering the agreements they signed, the outcome is really their responsibility and fault. But I’m not really well-versed in Jamaican economy, so this only refers to what we watched in class.
On a totally unrelated point, how great is the Jamaican accent? Makes me smile for some reason, in a really good way.
-Murat A.
I have the same uncontrollable reaction to reggae music. Agreed that we need further elaboration and contextualization of the terms we throw around, such as "free market" and "neoliberalism" and "neoliberal economics." That's a good thing to remember for the next time around... --Jennifer
DeleteEven though I could not listen to your presentation I read the blog so thank you for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteI watched the first video that you linked on the blog and it tells why people immigrate to U.S. War and persecution is the first reason why people immigrate. And of couse people try to escape from war. There are three countries that gives the most refugee to the United States are, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. Of course United States do not accept all the refugees to legally come to the country. The other reason why people immigrate is of course the economic opportunity. 11.7 million Mexican born people are living in the United States. The higher wages, better life opportunities are the biggest reasons why they immigrate to U.S.
Environment is the third reason why people immigrate but I think that the most important and biggest reason is the econmic opportunity and higher wages. As Saskia Sassen mentions in her essay the global economy and its consequences undevelope countries and lack of financial opportunities force people to immigrate to U.S.
Also, the immigrants not always prefer U.S to immigrate, the worlds biggets countries like Japan also housing for illegal immigrants." Japan is a country that never considered itself an immigrant country, has always been proud of its homogeneity, and has kept its doors closed to foreigners. Now it is experiencing a new illegal influx of workers from several Asian countries with which it maintains strong economic ties and investments in off-shore manufacturing but no shared border: Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand." (Why Migration?, Saskia Sassen). I think that legal or illegal immigration will not end in recent years.
"Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That's just the truth of it." Junot Diaz
Gözde İPEK
Oh Junot! And what do you think of his quote, Gözde??
Delete--Jennifer
Thanks for presentation. I think the first question is as good as the topic itself in terms of getting in touch with the other reasons behind the immigration. So I would like to comment on the first question.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to understand the dynamics of contemporary migration without a historical account of global economy?
I think there are some reasons other than pull and push factors that are not related to money. Most of the time we discussed poor people migrating for better job opportunities and better life conditions. However, there some people who migrate in order to reach the maximum freedom that they cannot reach at their own country. Most of us familiar with Alexis de Tocqueville who argues in his “Democracy in America” that Puritanism was one of the major features in foundation American democracy. People migrated to as it was called New England in order to practice their religious freedom. We can conclude from his suggestion that America is land that provides not only economic betterment but moral betterment as well. For example there are some countries where people cannot practice their religious beliefs because of being a member of a minority religion and even if that countries are so called civilised countries where there seems to be religious beliefs, some members of majority religion may look down upon them. Also there are some people who don't believe in none of the religions and because of lack of freedom of speech cannot put in words their ideas. Sexuality also can be considered as an reason for migration. The issue of Sexuality and oppression against sexual choices are defined very well in the first video that Gözde Özge have shared. So people also migrate in order to be free in their sexual choices and to escape from oppression, abasement and being mocked.
HASAN BAYRAM
Yes, see my response to Kardelen in the previous blog on our unstudied concept of the role "love" plays in motivating humanity: our choices, our beliefs, where and how we live, and how we choose or not to fight against inequality. --Jennifer
DeleteThank you Pınar and Berivan for the informative presentation.
ReplyDeleteWith Saskia Sasken's article, we can see that migration is a production of social, economic and political reasons; not personal decision. Reasons of migration is beyond national borders such as the relationship between Mexico and USA. It is not about the border between Mexico and USA, but about the linkage America created between them. This linkage is mainly resulted because of two reasons: the biggest reason is huge global economic power of USA. Second one is USA's exporting their culture.
About the second question, global economy has its huge role in causing migration into the USA, but it is not the only cause. USA's exported culture has a tremendous role as well. What I mean by exporting culture is that people become highly familiar with American culture via TV and movies. That is why America is the prior choice for migration. America creates a cultural linkage by becoming dominant. Nearly all of the popular movies has American cultural elements and when people exposed too much to this cultural elements; they feel like they know how things work in America. Rather than migrating to Europe, it is predicted that building a life in America is much more easier.
During the presentation, we talked about how foreign investment works in both sides. Initially it is thought that foreign investment would decrease the rate of migration into the US because other countries would have the sufficiency to keep its citizens in their own country. Yet this strategy backfired. There are several reasons; these investments only applied to the heads of the factories that are aided by the foreign investment, not benefited the workers. Over supply created waste such as the scene of milk washing away the streets. It harmed local domestic economy and created cheap labor force and bad working conditions. It broke down traditional working structure because women started to work. When both men and women started to search for a job, finding jobs for all people in need became hard. It became especially hard for women because they were first to be fired and women's health condition were more fragile; they easily got sick.
I found a video about international migration with very successful graphics. It has information about asylum seekers and statistics about Turkey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZmqIwqur4
By the way 18th of December is the International Migrant's Day and we had a class and forget to mention it!
While I was working in the United Nations, I learned about a project called "7 Billion Others" which is highly related to our topic and course. Yann Arthus Berthrand (head of the project) describes the importance of the projects as : "There are more than seven billion of us on Earth, and there will be no sustainable development if we cannot manage to live together. That is why 7 billion Others is so important to me. I believe in it because it concerns all of us and because it encourages us to take action. I hope that each one of us will want to reach out and make these encounters, to listen to other people and to contribute to the life of 7 billion Others by adding our own experiences and expressing our desire to live together. "
Here is the website of 7 Billion Others for additional information, photos and videos:
http://www.7billionothers.org/
Bige YILMAZ
I didn't even know about International Migrant's Day! My bad. We should have celebrated! Thanks for sharing this great information and links, Bige.
Delete--Jennifer
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteI think evaluating one country’s circumstances without taking into consideration of other countries’ economies which are linked to each other does not provide an accurate picture to the inner dynamics of that country. Also remedies to certain problems cannot be efficient only by focusing on one side of the picture. Globalization is a process that makes all countries interdependent economically and socially. Mexico and the USA is the best example to this assumption. Since Mexico is unable to provide favorable circumstances to its citizens, Mexican people try to pursue certain opportunities in US territory. And this creates a vicious circle. Both the USA and people who migrate from Mexico do not feel comfortable with the situation. This flow of migration results in diversity in American society which is perceived as a challenge to unity from certain perspectives.
I think similarity is welcomed by politics because it is a way through which the system functions “successfully”. Different ideas or concepts pose new challenges to the domination based system though the scope of this domination may change. We live in an age when the machine of the system functions with an enormous speed. So being the counter friction is not easy, however necessary. It is easier to turn a blind eye to the problems that do not have direct effect in our lives. One of the reasons why investment in whiteness is accepted by the public opinion is this. So, people choose not to hear about the problems that immigrants live.
I guess the inability or reluctance to listen is the common disease of mankind nowadays.
The public image of the USA is based on the promise of freedom and equality of the USA. So, this promise together with the unfavorable circumstances of their own countries lead people immigrate to US territories I guess. I know that some people do not face with undesirable or destructive economic circumstances in their own countries, but still the idea of better opportunities charm these people to search for a new life in the US. As we have read (like Ifemelu in Americanah) they choose to go back after coming across to the real picture sometimes. However, this is not the case always. Sometimes immigrants do not have a country to go back. Asylum seekers who escape from violence threat posed by their own countries are the best example to that. In this aspect, this issue becomes a concern of human rights rather than the rights of a specific country.
The reason why people sometimes have the tendency towards internalizing and embracing discriminatory politics is closely related to the reality of this epoch. I feel like there is a fortune globe hung above and everybody jumps for entering into that globe. While jumping, people step on each other. It makes easier to step on others for being included into the sphere of “chosen” or privileged group. For ages, the group that was stepped on was considered as minorities but I don’t think that they can be considered as minorities any more. They are able to raise their voices and make people hear them better. Everybody has the responsibility to hear them and work for their being accepted into that globe. In that case probably the globe will not carry the load and break into pieces but this is what has to be done. If equality and justice is going to be provided or if a total recovery will be obtained, it will definitely be provided at the expense of certain privileges.
Thanks for enable us to discuss immigration and the reasons one more time :)
Deniz
Deniz, I like how you describe Sassen's idea of global migration in relation to the speed in which globalization works. It is true that we live in a world that moves fast and in a fast-paced global world, it is much easier to be similar than to be different. It's hard to disrupt a system that moves so fast. Thinking about globalization through the lens of physics is an interesting thought-exercise for me.... --Jennifer
DeleteFirst of all, thank you so much ladies. I enjoyed a lot and it was a really informative presentation.
ReplyDeleteYou talked about Life and Debt. It is clear that the immigration’s main reasons are poverty, unemployment, economic stagnation and overpopulation. Also there is an effect of cultural linkage. There is an American culture hegemony. Because of that American culture is dominant, American culture has a great effect on other cultures. Moreover, there are many push and pull factors and they are the reasons of immigration too.
Actually people migrate because of the creating new opportunities for themselves and United States is a great place to migrate. It is called as “land of opportunity.” People’s main aim is to live the “American dream.” But of course it is not possible for everyone. When people immgrate, people probably have great hopes and dreams. Of course it is so difficult that returning these dreams into reality. Hard work is so important but there should be a chance for people. Unfortunately, immigrants suffer from being undocumented and possibilities are not provided for them.
I think that hegemony is necessary but discrimination is not necessary. American culture is basically composed by different cultures, languages and traditions. There are many immigrant groups who live in United States but they are not completely free. Because they are African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans etc. The “race” problem exists and unfortunately the wanting about being superior exists too.
Finally I found a video and I really enjoyed it! I want to share with you :) It is called “Immigrant Tale.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9N9kMD7qCk
-Ezgi Doğan
So why do you think that "hegemony is necessary"? Do you mean that it is inevitable? Curious! -Jennifer
DeleteThank you for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteThe video that you showed us was good also.
So, immigration. I think that, immigration is a issue that the whole world shoud pay attention. It's at its best in America.Therefore, I think that, if America, is not unhappy about the migration, then they should stop being complex towards them. Since one of the main reason of migration is poverty and freedom, i think that if they've given what they've need, the problem could be solved in the most harmless way.
Whenever I see/hear sth 'bad' about migration, I cant stop myself for thinking that 'why is America enjoying it that much- if they're unhappy about it, if they're THAT sick and tired of it, then why the hell they're confusing it...
However, I also think that, since Americans are considering themselves as the same, in the most stereotyped way, they have a fear of sth/someone different. Accepting someone new, getting very close to someone in all fields, might be scary for them since they dont know it and REFUSE to know it.
As long as people will prefer the better country to live and this stupid situation of the preffered countries will continue.
Kardelen İpek
Hi Kardelen, I had a hard time following your thoughts here. What's the link to Saskia Sassen in your analysis? --Jennifer
DeleteThank you ladies for this great presentation!
ReplyDeleteOne more time we are challenged by the notion of immigration by Sassen’s article. Rather than humanside of the immigration the article deals with the economic and domestic causes of immigration. The image of America as golden land still preserves its place in the global arena. Still, people think that by migrating to America they will have access to a more free and liberal way of living. Apart from this image, foreign investment done by America also has massive effect. America tried to overcome immigration by providing job opportunities in several countries but this worked in the opposite way. People living in those countries are forced more to migrate. The investment opportunities do provide employment but in a form of exploit labor.Apple factories in China is a great example of this. In Jamaica the situation is the same. Jamaicans used to own the land and cultivate it in order to sell it to the market. As Americans came to the land they lost what got to the factories. Now, they import basic needs from America and sell it to a lower price than the local products. As people cannot sell what they produce they lose their jobs as agriculture workers and thus become unemployed. The exploitation of the global economy and especially American industry are huge problems in third world countries. Due to these economic problems people choose to go to America to work as labor workers and earn more than they do in their own countries.
As we have also mentioned at the end of the economic linkages created by global investments also form cultural linkages between these countries. Sassen states in the article that “making the culture of industrialized countries seem less foreign and the prospect of living there more attractive. This ideological impact turns a much larger number of people into candidates for emigration”. Many people feel like they know American culture all over the world. Since it is very dominant and apparent, the culture is imposed on us. Because of this, many people envy Americans living in the US and certain parts of their living styles. However, this cultural linkage is not always true but still it also has a massive effect on immigration. The idea of living in America is so well-dressed that people feel they will be liberated if they live there and thus migrate without knowing much about the hardships of being an immigrant there.
I really like the documentary that you have showed in the class because it presented well how third wirld countries are exploited by American investment and American products. I think the solution to prevent immigration does not lie in investment but by giving workers and employers space to produce their own products for their own market.
Thanks for this thoughtful reiteration of the main points of Sassen's article. Also, you should really watch the whole film someday. I *highly* recommend it! --Jennifer
DeleteThank you for the presentation and the documentary that you showed us.
ReplyDeleteOh America~ I want to share a poem which was mounted inside the pedestal of the statute:
New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I think this is the most ironic thing about immigration to America. It says here "send me the poor, the tired..." however, when we look at the history of immigration, they do not except many people. How many immigrant had to return their countries or waited for days in Ellis Island in order to enter? Still... STILL, many people dream about moving to America. This poem, I think, is the perfect example of immigration. It is about immigrants coming to America through Ellis Island at the port of New York. It says we America is waiting for them yet the only thing waiting for them is endless working, discrimination and hardship.This poem shows delusiveness of America for immigrants.
I think one of the main reason for that is the idea of America as the golden land as it is also mentioned by Aslı. The writing about the continent, the movies and the idea of freedom was attracting people. People feel like they know the country without even actually going there. They think they will not see any other difficulties than they already know but the harsh reality is waiting for them. Also, it was presumed as there is endless job opportunities and empty houses there. Every men can have the American Dream life as long as they work hard for it. Or some rich immigrants just want the idea of America which they see in movies and books. They do not expect working hard to get the American dream, since they already have enough money to create it. They do not think about the seriousness of discrimination.
I think the idea of creating job opportunities in other countries in order to stop immigration is good. However, the way America does it, not that good. What they actually do is to boost American economy; they pay less money there to create anything than in America. Also if they worked people in those conditions, the whole world would be aware but I, personally, didn't see any news about the bad working conditions or anything, except one about Apple. I'm really bad at economy but I think creating a normal workplace in foreign countries would help the immigration problem. In this way, they would spend more money in foreign ground but they would also stop the unwanted immigration.
-Ezgi ULUSOY
But that solution wouldn't be profitable for American companies, who move overseas in the first place in order to use cheaper labor or because regulations are lower or non-existent, so while, in theory, yes, that would work, I don't see it ever happening when pursuing profit is more important than pursuing global social justice... --Jennifer
DeleteThank you Pınar and Berivan for your thoughtful presentation.
ReplyDeleteThis topic has similar ideas about what I discussed in my presentation with Ezgi. Immigrants have many reasons which force them to immigrate to America. Apart from that, the hope of an economic opportunity drives many people to immigrate to the United States. They would accept any job which could provide them enough money to survive. As I mentioned in our presentation, many low-wage jobs in America are 3 times more than Mexicans’ average income in their own country. Therefore, they get any job which helps them maintain their lives. As Sassen emphasizes, policy makers should understand the basic fact that strong economic and geopolitical relations between undeveloped and poor countries tends to promote labor migration from poorer to wealthier countries (Mexico to America).
Yet what I really want to emphasize is Sassen’s positive view of immigration. As Pınar mentioned at the beginning of the presentation, there are many successful immigrants in the United States. Apart from that, they are very hard working and they try to do their best to make their dreams come true. Actually, immigrants bring new jobs to America like new restaurants and gas stations. For example, the Partnership for a New American Economy notes in their 2012 report: "Over the last 15 years, while native-born Americans have become less likely to start a business, immigrants have steadily picked up the slack. Immigrants are now more than twice as likely as the native-born to start a business and were responsible for more than one in every four (28 percent) U.S. businesses founded in 2011, significantly outpacing their share of the population (12.9 percent)." This report also shows the fact that they bring benefits to the American economy as it is based on the ‘free market’. They do not bring any harm to anyone and they immigrate to America to work or get education just like everyone. They would do anything to give their families a better life just like native-born Americans. They actually do not take any jobs from anyone but they reasonably expand the U.S jobs and do business with millions of people in the USA.
Burcu Karatekeli
Very interesting data you cite, Burcu. 28% is A LOT. What your data suggest is the very (overly) simplistic reality that we all know: the USA would NOT function without an immigrant population, documented and undocumented. And that is the fundamental contradiction between policy and reality. --Jennifer
DeleteThank you Pınar and Berivan for your clear and informative presentation.
ReplyDeleteThe immigration to the U.S,even today, is related to the past and to the economic global power of the U.S. that it is much more then the actual bourder of the other counties and USA. According to Saskia Sassen's article the immigration is not about the borders of the countries but it is about the linkage that America creates between itself and the other countries. This ia the bridge betweem them. Migration has economic, social and political reasons that are also linked to the economic issues as a whole like the free market.
There is a naturalized unequality that the U.S. sits at the top. This is the reason why America recieves the most immigration rates in the world because America is the most powerful in global economy. Moreover, the unequal opportunities that push and pull people from one place to another in hope of a better life opportunity such as job, education, health care standards of people in America and other countries. Not all of the countries are poor that America gets high rates of immigrants from. This is basicly the power issue in the global terms.
Rabia Betul Kubilay
Yes, Betul, you are correct in reading Sassen's article as a way to link migration to the larger issues of the economy under globalization. It's another lens through which to think about why people move...
Delete--Jennifer
Thanks for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteI think ‘global economy’ is an attractive term however, from my point of view the situation is a bit different. America pledges all people to have their deficiencies. Jobs for unemployed people, equality and freedom for downtrodden people etc… In my opinion these are the basic commitments of America while introducing itself. As far as all we read throughout the course, we all know that the reality is not like how ‘America’ introduces itself. However, hope is the most important thing for people to linger on. America is not welcoming all its promises though it makes real the first phase about people’s need; HOPE.
People try to make things complicated by mentioning about ‘global economy’ and kinds of ‘shinny’ words. However, the issue of migration is very simple. It is just about giving satisfactory amount of hope with including all kinds of people from younger to elder.
Dilan Algan
Hope, like love (see my response to Kardelen's post on the previous blog), is a powerful motivator and definitely should not be underestimated or neglected in "intellectualizing" these topics, which touch the core of all of us as human beings... --Jennifer
DeleteThank you Berivan and Pınar for this presentation.
ReplyDelete“Why America?” That is very good question to start to think about the reasons behind the immigration into the US? As we already talked, the economic problems in some third world countries make people migrate to the United States where they think they can at least find a proper job to make a living. The best example can be Mexican people... Mexico shares a border with United States and the economic conditions in these two countries are just the opposite. There are lack of opportunities in Mexico while there is prosperity in the US. However, in Sasken's article we see that the migration is something global and more broader than the example of Mexican immigration. In this article, it is stated that people immigrate to the US because of US's global economy and popular culture. In terms of global economy, I can basically say that free market is not equally beneficial for everyone but it gives people something to make use of and probably for that reason people see the free market as a opportunity (although some people do not make a lot money they can cover some of their basic needs in compare to their home countries). The second reason behind the immigration is US's popular culture. The more people are able to see, through media, how Americans live their life the more of them want to become a part of that culture. In one of his shows, comedian Russell Peters talks about his father and his willingness to become a Canadian. He tells that his father decides to make a barbecue and invite their neighbors and this will make them Canadian. Here you can find the link to that video. It is really funny and it shows the effort that immigrants make in order to become a part of the culture that they are living.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOm-15621bs
-Tansu Özakman
I think it is about hope and hope alone. America (probably thanks to all those hollywood movies) pictures such a utopic country that for simple people might look like a reality. Heard about an escaped North Korean border guard, in his interview about his reasons to escape he states only one. One day when he is on patrol he finds a nail clipper, a goddamn tiny nail clipper and gets the idea: "why would anybody throw out such a great nail clipper? It doesn't make any sense. Then... Maybe person who threw it can really afford to do it. Maybe he actually has a great bountiful life and our leader is telling us lies about how the rest of the world is dead or dying.... See, even a simple nail clipper is enough to swerve someones mind. Simple people, who grew up in simple lifestyles, meeting with the projected American lifestyle they start to hope for heaven on earth. Cities made of gold, or whatever the nonsense media is feeding them.
ReplyDeleteOthers, people not so simple have so many different reasons compared to those I talked about above but I believe the underlying reason is the same, hope. They might be running away from a dictatorial regime, or for better jobs or education, for to become a star or just because of beautiful women (really? thats where you think of when you mention beautiful women? I mean did you ever see the girls in Finland? Vikings are dope..)
In the end we are all running away from a problem of some kind while making our way to America, and I think this is a worthless ideal. Not that people who make it there don't have good lives. On the contrary, I think most achieve some kind of happiness. But I think there are alternatives out there that are bazillion times better than America. Not Qatar, definitely not, but countries of northern Europe or Asia, the policies and living conditions for immigrants are so much higher that it simply doesn't make any sense to slave away for a green card. It is like there is a TV seller, advertising you with a marching band and a parade about his brand new black and white TV and the next shop over sells the newest full HD for the half price, just doesn't shove it to your face.
Yes it is hope, but it is not real hope. It is the illusion of a possibility of being hopeful of being alive in just a little bit better shape you were previously. People trample each other for it because they have been told that its a limited supply special offer that expires in a hour. And if you buy one right now they will send a free one for your wife, for your daughters and sons, and thirty seven relatives. All you have to do is to pick up the phone and pledge your allegiance to Almighty America! Hallelujah! God Bless America!
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DeleteOh I definitely think the barbarians win over the vikings when it comes to making sweeping generalizations about desirability. But, then, I never did like like blondes....
--Jennifer
I want to thank Pınar and Berivan for your presentation.
ReplyDeleteIn the light of Sassen, globalization and neoliberal economic policies are the major factors that contribute to continuation the immigration to the USA and help us to grasp the contemporary causes of immigration alongside other factors..
The article questions how USA creates all those linkages that come in return as immigration. Foreign investments, international trades, military and political relations with other countries create a linkage between countries. Of course, the exchange occurs in two ways. This means, both USA and the country that is interacted is affected. For instance, the video that we watched reflected how Jamaica’s economic exchange led the country to open to the global market. However, as the economic regulations in neoliberal economy are not controlled, the country suffered from the economic instability of foreign goods. Then, emigration from Jamaica to USA occurred so that Jamaicans could have more secure financial status. Thus, neoliberal market requires borderlands to be blurred in the sense that immigration occurs in an evitable way. More connection means more immigration.
Another aspect for immigration is technology. As a medium for modernization, technology also has led developing countries to shift from more rural territories to modern ones. However, as mechanization requires less physical labor, many people face the fear of being unemployed. As developed countries through free trade damage third world countries, they should be ready or hosting their citizens. Especially in patriarchal societies, unfortunately, women are the first ones to be fired. Here in that situation immigration, gender and economic status chain occurs through intersection.
Furthermore, developed countries are always in need of migrants. That is one of the aspects of that phenomenon that will continue. Big countries need industrial and agricultural workers. The demographic circumstances lead them to ask for offer and provide grounds for immigration. For instance wars, lower birth rates and depopulation are important factors that can be compensated through immigration. In the case of the US, as its citizens are more in the favor of white collar or higher jobs, there occurs demand for immigrants to do lower and physically demanding occupations. This is why migrants whether they are legal or not come are essential for USA. This is why the undocumented immigrants will also be favored when it comes to hiring them (taxes). Immigrants constitute a significant workforce of the country that makes them indispensable for the continuity of the labor force.
The most important medium of linkage is through globalization and its cultural perspective. The US has been distributing its culture globally. From its movies, music to technology and so on, USA is the most familiar country that we know, right? So when we decide migrate in international spectrum, where would be choose to go? Of course, USA comes one of the first preferences from our list. Therefore, globalization plays a significant role in increasing familiarity among states, blurring borders and creating transnational identities that with their help we can connect to various territories. Immigration therefore becomes an essential way of exchanging not only economic, political and technological values but also cultural values as well.
Hacer Bahar
A very informed summary of the key points of Sassen's article, Hacer!
Delete-Jennifer
Thanks Pınar and Berivan for briefing the most important points of Sassen's text. I missed your presentation, unfortunately, but I'm sure you guys explained wonderfully. Sassen's text is really important for understanding migration because it gives us an understanding of why people from certain geographies have been continuously moving to the U.S and why demographics of the U.S have been changing increasingly in the last century. She mentions obvious factors like border nations, which was the case for the Mexican immigration into the U.S. She makes an emphasis on one of the most important factors that force millions of populations to migrate, the state of the global economy and America's powerful place in this global economy. Poverty, overpopulation, and all possible outcomes of social/politial unstability, war, genocides, natural disasters, diseases,etc. All or any one of these factors can force people to escape from their poor living conditions and seek a more bearable environment elsewhere to survive.
ReplyDeleteIt's not even always about poverty. Having received an insight from my Korean-American friends, they explained how their grandparents moved to the U.S as a result of the Korean War and Korea's military alliance with the U.S. because of their relationship with the American Servicemen. They also told of some acquaintances who were children of war orphans brought to the U.S at the time of the war.
Immigration is an inevitable result of changing economies and politics that shape the social dynamics in the world. To ask the question: "Why America?" Well, each ethnic group has their own reasons and driving forces but to form some common ground for all, we can say that the commerical culture promoted by American mass media has a very huge role, because through mass media, American culture has become a mainstream and a global culture. Through television, cinema, music, etc. the whole world is given an "insight" to America. People are presented a glorified and glamorized America. Its the "land of opportunities" where people can achieve anything they work for and the land that welcomes everyone into its friendly home. Hundreds of literary works and movies reflect the iconic idea of people going to America, living the dream and living happily ever after, although it doesn't always work out that way. What it doesn't present aside it's squeaky clean image is that most immigrants, especially from poorer countries, will be treated as second class citizens and if they're given the chance to work, they will be working in lower paid jobs, in much more difficult conditions and be put in poor condition housing areas, and still be outcasted from the American society for not acting or looking "American" (This mentality reminds me of a satirical play I read called "Los Vendidos") Most immigrants who are in desperate need to make a living will put with all of it to survive and take care of their families because the U.S economy is in a much better state than most of these countries and can afford to pay them. Aside from the media, the exported culture through investment in foreign market also play a huge role because it is one of the most important factors that contribute to globalization. It's why most parts of the world are dominated by American companies, using American products, eating their food, wearing their clothes, and watching their T.V. It makes the whole world almost dependent on America increasing people's desire to go there.
Even today, many people still migrate to the U.S. even if they're not suffering in the depths of poverty. Through mass media culture, even people who live in well conditions in their home countries have this dream that America will give them better than they can get elsewhere. For those who want to make it big, American is a must-go. For people who feel oppressed by their own culture, American represents a place of liberty, where they can have full freedom, where they can live in the best homes, get the best education and can become anything.
Delete-Sera
SERA! You are officially called out for not speaking up in class and sharing your clearly insightful and thoughtful opinions about the readings and subjects. tsk tsk. Self-confidence, girl. How else you gonna make it as a smart woman in this world???
DeleteFirstly, I would like to say thank you for this great presentation to Berivan and Pınar.
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons for people to migrate from one place to another as we talked about before. Generally inadequate economic conditions can be seen as the major reason of immigration. People believe that when they immigrate, the problems will be solved. At this point, the US is considered as a “dream” country. It is believed that once they arrive there, they will find jobs and this make their economic situations better. In this kind of immigration, it can be said that going to the US is much more a “choice” for these people. This is only one side of the story, but there is the other side.
Throughout the semester, we analyzed the policies and laws that US government adopted to limit the immigration. However, as it is pointed out in the article as well, it did not go well. As the US having the leading role in global economy, labor demand increased. I remember the class that we talked about in the US, people want to be a lawyer, a doctor or an engineer. In other words, everyone wanted to be professional, not blue-collar workers. Thus, there must be people to do these jobs. At this point, immigrants appear. Even though the US try to limit their coming, conditions show that they need immigrants, because it is indispensable result of their global economic policy. It is same for the immigrants as well. It is not a “choice” to go to the US, but a “necessity”. They are affected by the global policy of the US and they had to immigrate because of this. The documentary that we watched part of it reveals the situation of Jamaica, for example. It shows how the US changed the local economy of Jamaica and forced people living there to go somewhere else.
The problems start as they come to the US. Most of the immigrants have to work in really low salaries in the US. For some of them, this money is not enough to support their family financially and this creates both economic and social problems.
Yasemin Öztemür.
Yes, that is a very cogent summary of topic, Yasemin
DeleteThank you for the presentation, Pınar and Berivan.
ReplyDeleteIn her article, Saskia Sassen sums up pretty much every aspect of US immigration that we discussed in the class. She helps us to step back and look at the bigger picture as a whole, and ask: Why migration? and Why US?
While globalization and the changing economical structure of the world might seem as the two major factors for US immigration, she suggests at the end that we re-define immigration and come up with a more comprehensive term, and only then will we find a solution to problems caused by immigration.
Esma Şermet
What would you suggest as a more comprehensive term, Esma?
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