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International Migration and Sustainable Development: Globalization, Move-In Move-Out Migration and Translocal Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2013) | Viewed by 38267

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of the special issue International Migration and Sustainable Development: Globalization, Move-In Move-Out Migration and Translocal Development is to analyse the link between globalization and move-in move-out migration, attempting to secure a better grasp of what this means in the context of sustainability/ sustainable development.
Starting point is that—along with globalization—new types of ‘place hopping’ are taking place. Examples of ‘hopping crowds’ are highly skilled academics (moving from university to university); business consultants integrating different localities in a single value chain; but also low-skilled workers contracted by far away mining companies or farmers. Other examples are people working as volunteers in the context of development projects; and residential tourists flying-in and out from sunny destination following the seasons.
Even though in migration research much has been written about transnational migrants, circular migrants and/or temporary migrants, and tourists, above-mentioned category of move-in move-out migrants is in many respects different. Rather than being ‘true’ transnationals (i.e., people being neither here nor there, finding themselves in several places at the same time), the majority are translocals—linked to particular localities and fully engaged within one particular enclave until returning to their home area. For the majority, movements are not ‘circular’—and cannot be described as tourists (i.e. temporarily leisured persons who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change): many of them work. The denomination ‘temporary migrant’ is not in line with the fact that organizations are recruiting people from a ‘permanent pool’; seen from the perspective of receiving spaces, it is a constant flow of people coming in—having a considerable footprint—even though the people involved are often not considered  part of ‘local’ community.

Through this collection we will show that move-in move out migration (and the institutions behind) plays a dominant role in creating a matrix of (new) links that connect people and places with other places and people elsewhere. According to Appadurai, globalisation creates landscapes of translocalities: ‘Such localities create complex conditions for the production and reproduction of locality in which ties of marriage, work, business and leisure weave together various circulating populations with kinds of “locals” to create neighbourhoods which belong in one sense to particular nation states, but are, from another point of view, what we might call translocalities’ ([1], p. 216). Globalisation, after all, is connecting people and places that are distant in space but linked in such ways that what happens in one place has direct bearing on the other.
Rather than producing transnational communities and spaces, move-in move-out migration is resulting in translocal patterns of development [2]. That is, while people are indeed more and more connected to others in different localities, including distant ones, the essence of this integration lies in linking ‘the local’ to ‘the local’ elsewhere and only partly in integration at the level of nation. Such new types of translocality will create new development opportunities, but also restrict people’s manoeuvring space to escape from poverty – or from ‘capability deprivation’.
In addition, we also aim to better understand whether – and under what circumstances move-in move out migration (and the translocal nature of development) slowly materialises in the form of corridors linking localities—the solidification of links between places and people of a more than occasional nature. As soon as patterns of linkages are established, this might result in investments which in the longer run might lead to self-enforcement and leading to path dependencies.
Finally, attention will be given to the question of to what extent there is an impact beyond the enclaves that are directly affected: Where move-in move-out migration result in change (e.g., displacement, rapid economic growth), it is not enough to make an assessment of the direct results – the effects should also be perceived in relation to what types of consequences take place outside of the direct sight. Given the importance of mobility, each change will produce changes that will ‘travel in space’, produce a whole chain of effects (indirect effects). It is important to develop a more dynamic view taking into account how develop will result in a dynamic space.

References:
1. Appadurai, A. Modernity at Large; University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, USA, 1996.
2. Zoomers, A.; van Westen, G. (eds). Special Issue: Translocal development, development corridors and development chains. Int. Dev. Plann. Rev. 2011, 33, 377-509.

This special issue builds on the following hypotheses:
•    New types of move-in move out migration (i.e. non-local actors) are playing an important role in generating (new) patterns of translocal development
•    Based on the intensity and quality of these connections, new path-dependencies might arise. External connections (corridors) may serve as catalysts for innovations and (new) development trajectories, as well as conduits of lock-in in a subordinated and dependent development process.
•    An understanding of the implications of move-in move out migration require us to incorporate what happens at various locations simultaneously, rather than taking a space-bounded view where interventions take place.

Leading questions:
•    What are the characteristics/particularities of different types of move-in move-out migrants or ‘hopping crowds’ (Who are they? How do they move? What instiutions are behind?)
•    What are the results in terms of ‘translocal development’, ‘corridors’ or ‘development chains’?
•    What are the implications in terms of sustainability/sustainable development?

Number of words: 6000-8000 (max)

Prof. Dr. Annelies Zoomers
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

801 KiB  
Article
Circulating Practices: Migration and Translocal Development in Washington D.C. and Cochabamba, Bolivia
by Christopher Strunk
Sustainability 2013, 5(10), 4106-4123; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5104106 - 25 Sep 2013
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6216
Abstract
Migrant remittances are increasingly seen as a potential form of development in the global South, but the impact of international migration on sending regions is far from straightforward. In this article, I analyze migrant communities of origin in rural Bolivia as dynamic places [...] Read more.
Migrant remittances are increasingly seen as a potential form of development in the global South, but the impact of international migration on sending regions is far from straightforward. In this article, I analyze migrant communities of origin in rural Bolivia as dynamic places that are constantly reproduced through connections with other places. I document the movement of migrant practices between Washington D.C. and Cochabamba and the influence of monetary and non-monetary flows on Bolivian cultural practices, politics, and development. I demonstrate how hometown associations and returning migrants have transferred organizational practices and political ideas about development from the United States to rural Bolivia. In addition, I explore migration’s role in struggles over belonging in Cochabamba, focusing on the efforts by migrants in Washington D.C. to stake their claim through transnational houses and collective remittance projects and on recent internal migration from other regions in Bolivia. Finally, I assess the sustainability of migrant-led development in Cochabamba. Although collaboration with migrants can strengthen the local state by providing more resources, it conditions the type of development that can take place and has yet to provide adequate opportunities for returning migrants or young people in rural Bolivia. Full article
528 KiB  
Article
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: The Role of International Maasai Migrants in Rural Sustainable Community Development
by Caroline S. Archambault
Sustainability 2013, 5(9), 3665-3678; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5093665 - 27 Aug 2013
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5838
Abstract
While the Maasai have to be among sub-Saharan Africa’s most mobile population due to their traditional transhumant pastoral livelihood strategy, compared with other neighboring ethnic groups they have been relatively late to migrate in substantial numbers for wage labour opportunities. In the community [...] Read more.
While the Maasai have to be among sub-Saharan Africa’s most mobile population due to their traditional transhumant pastoral livelihood strategy, compared with other neighboring ethnic groups they have been relatively late to migrate in substantial numbers for wage labour opportunities. In the community of Elangata Wuas in Southern Kenya, international migration for employment abroad has been very rare but promises to increase in significant numbers with the dramatic rise in education participation and diversification of livelihoods. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research and the specific experiences of the few international migrant pioneers in Elangata Wuas, this paper explores how community members assess the impacts of international migration on community sustainable development. It appears that international migration facilitates, and even exacerbates, inequality, which is locally celebrated, under an ethic of inter-dependence, as sustainable development. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms of social control employed by community members to socially maintain their migrants as part of the community so that these migrants feel continued pressure and commitment to invest and develop their communities. Such mechanisms are importantly derived from the adaptability and accommodation of culture and the re-invention of tradition. Full article
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516 KiB  
Article
From Transit Migrants to Trading Migrants: Development Opportunities for Nigerians in the Transnational Trade Sector of Istanbul
by Joris Schapendonk
Sustainability 2013, 5(7), 2856-2873; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5072856 - 27 Jun 2013
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6689
Abstract
This paper critically discusses the relation between human mobility and development. It moves away from conventional migration-development policy discussions that mainly focus on diaspora-like actors, who have established a stable and integrated socio-economic position in the destination countries. Instead, it looks at mobility-development [...] Read more.
This paper critically discusses the relation between human mobility and development. It moves away from conventional migration-development policy discussions that mainly focus on diaspora-like actors, who have established a stable and integrated socio-economic position in the destination countries. Instead, it looks at mobility-development dynamics in the context of less privileged and less integrated migrants; Nigerian migrants who are (or have been) living in transit-like situations in the city of Istanbul (Turkey). Based on in-depth interviews with Nigerian migrants, it analyses migrants’ personal developments in the light of their migration trajectories. The analysis particularly shows how upward social mobility is not so much found in onward migration to Europe, but in getting involved in a different form of mobility; informally arranged transnational trade between Turkey and West Africa. It outlines the diverse roles of migrants in this informal trade sector and elaborates on their relations with fly in/fly out traders originating from Africa. With these empirical insights, I conclude that these migrants do not belong to settled diaspora communities, but nevertheless, act as bridges between “here” and “there” and contribute to the creation of (new) development corridors. Full article
140 KiB  
Article
Unraveling the Skilled Mobility for Sustainable Development Mantra: An Analysis of China-EU Academic Mobility
by Maggi W.H. Leung
Sustainability 2013, 5(6), 2644-2663; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5062644 - 18 Jun 2013
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 9237
Abstract
In the name of sustainable development, skilled persons including scholars, researchers and students have become incorporated in the “sustainable development” visions and strategies of institutions, city centers and nation-states near and far from where these potentially mobile brains are. Policies and programs have [...] Read more.
In the name of sustainable development, skilled persons including scholars, researchers and students have become incorporated in the “sustainable development” visions and strategies of institutions, city centers and nation-states near and far from where these potentially mobile brains are. Policies and programs have widely been implemented to foster move-in move-out mobility of these talents sans frontières who should contribute to the competitiveness of their affiliated institutions and structures in the global knowledge economy. This paper unravels this emergent academic mobility for sustainable development mantra. It unpacks the meanings of “sustainable development” and “sustainability” as used in relation to temporary (often circulatory) mobility of students and academics in different contexts. An analysis of European and specifically China-EU academic mobility initiatives illustrates the multi-fold meanings of sustainability in this policy terrain. Zooming into the Chinese-German case, the paper highlights the common dominance of economic and environmental elements in the current “academic mobility for sustainability” construct that sidelines important social components such as equity and diversity. Statistical data and narratives will be provided to illustrate the stark gender and disciplinary bias in the Chinese-German staff academic mobility field. The paper argues for conscious, affirmative efforts by policy-makers and funding agencies to correct existing imbalances. Full article
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723 KiB  
Article
Residential Tourism and Multiple Mobilities: Local Citizenship and Community Fragmentation in Costa Rica
by Femke Van Noorloos
Sustainability 2013, 5(2), 570-589; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5020570 - 04 Feb 2013
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 9376
Abstract
Current patterns of “move-in move-out” hypermobility are perfectly exemplified by residential tourism: the temporary or permanent mobility of relatively well-to-do citizens from mostly western countries to a variety of tourist destinations, where they buy property. The mobility of residential tourists does not stand [...] Read more.
Current patterns of “move-in move-out” hypermobility are perfectly exemplified by residential tourism: the temporary or permanent mobility of relatively well-to-do citizens from mostly western countries to a variety of tourist destinations, where they buy property. The mobility of residential tourists does not stand alone, but has broader chain effects: it converts local destinations into transnational spaces, leading to a highly differentiated and segmented population landscape. In this article, residential tourism’s implications in terms of local society in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, are examined, starting from the idea that these implications should be viewed as complex and traveling in time and space. Mobile groups, such as residential tourists, can have an important local participation and involvement (independently of national citizenship), although recent flows of migrants settle more into compatriot social networks. The fact that various migrant populations continually travel back and forth and do not envision a future in the area may restrict their opportunities and willingness for local involvement. Transnational involvement in itself is not a problem and can be successfully combined with high local involvement; however, the great level of fragmentation, mobility, temporariness and absenteeism in Guanacaste circumscribes successful community organizing. Still, the social system has not completely dissolved. Full article
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