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The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World

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The Age of Migration: International Population

Movements in the Modern World
Stephen Castles , Mark J. Miller & Giuseppe Ammendola
Published online: 09 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Stephen Castles , Mark J. Miller & Giuseppe Ammendola (2005) The Age of Migration: International
Population Movements in the Modern World, American Foreign Policy Interests: The Journal of the National Committee on
American Foreign Policy, 27:6, 537-542, DOI: 10.1080/10803920500434037

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 Book Brief/Book Essay
Book Brief/
Book Essay
The Age of Migration:
International
Population
Movements in the
Modern World
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by Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller
New York: The Guilford Press, (2003),
$30.00, 338 pages
The attentive observer of globalization is at
least intuitively aware of the centrality of the
issue of migration. Migration plays a major role
in the complex (and unclear) process of change
in the international political order we are
experiencing now. It impacts states and
regions, their societies, economies, and polities.
The Castles and Miller book provides an agile
introduction to this issue area along several
analytical dimensions.1 Because of its clear
outlining of the issues, it should be read by
our policymakers in Washington even if they
may not agree with some of its prescriptions.
The authors show across the book not just
their underlying belief that one cannot under-
stand globalization without a firm grasp of
migration and immigration but also that these
phenomena cannot be understood, even at the
local level, without a ‘‘big picture’’ analytical
mind-set. Further, just as with other topics of
a global nature, migration lends itself signifi-
cantly to multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
analysis, and the authors fully subscribe to
this view.
American Foreign Policy Interests
537
Castles and Miller start with two observa-
tions: ‘‘movements of commodities and capital
almost always give rise to movements of people,’’
and global cultural interchanges, made easier
by better transportation and communication
technologies, lead to migration as well. Further,
although the book focuses on the post–World
War II movement of people worldwide, it clearly
states that migrations have been part of human
history from the earliest times. (I am inclined to
say from the migration of Homo sapiens from
Africa about 100,000 years ago.)
The authors first point out some interesting
numbers, which obviously have to be taken cum
grano salis, given the imprecise nature of this
type of data collection even in the most highly
developed countries. It would seem that in
2002, approximately 185 million people had
lived for more than 12 months outside the coun-
try in which they were born, the equivalent of a
little more than 2 percent of the world popula-
tion. In 2001, the authors add, there were
15 million refugees or asylum seekers ‘‘in need
of protection or assistance.’’ Furthermore, in
the United States, on the basis of the 2000
census, there were about 9 million illegal aliens,
with a number between 200,000 and 300,000 of
new arrivals each year. To add some historical
perspective, between 1846 and 1939, about
59 million people left Europe, mostly for the
Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa. To the United States alone, between
1820 and 1998, nearly 65 million immigrants
came.2
Castles and Miller identify upfront the main
global trends that characterize international
population movements nowadays. First, an
increase in the number of countries of origin
and destination. Second, a significant increase
in the number of individuals migrating to and
from major regions. Interestingly, they point
out, governmental policies can affect these
trends, as the overall decrease in refugees since
1993 seems to attest. Third, most countries do
 538
not experience one type of immigration such as
‘‘labor . . . , refugees or permanent settlement’’
but several types at the same time, thus compli-
cating national and international policymaking.
Fourth, migration, since the 1960s, has become
increasingly feminized and, most unfortunately,
in some instances associated with human traf-
ficking. Last, migration has become much more
politicized, affecting increasingly ‘‘domestic poli-
tics, bilateral and regional relationships, and
national security policies of states around the
world.’’
The current large population movements,
in the opinion of the authors, have engendered
two central clusters of issues. One is the regula-
tion of international migration. The other, they
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add, is the impact that growing ethnic diversity
has on the society of the destination countries.
Most notably, immigration and ethnic diversity
can represent a formidable challenge to
national identity as they create a people with-
out common ethnic origins. Furthermore, as
the authors very adroitly point out, the link
between immigration and ethnic relations is
in general not sufficiently examined, with the
two phenomena studied all too often separately.
Actually, I would say that this separation
between immigration and ethnic studies is par-
ticularly visible in the United States among
some of the students of ‘‘older’’ ethnic groups
(the Italians come most readily to my mind,
but they are not the only ones). This is most
reductive. The combined effects of return immi-
gration (which has been a reality for decades)
and, more recently, of the greater mobility
and ease of communication deriving from mod-
ern technology have blunted the distinction
between immigrants and the ‘‘ethnic’’ descen-
dants of earlier arrivals.
From the point of view of U.S. national
security, as a matter of fact, the distinction if
drawn too sharply is not beneficial, I believe.
The United States needs in these critical times
the support of as many countries and ethnici-
ties as possible. In that sense, most ties with
countries and regions the world over should
American Foreign Policy Interests
Book Brief/Book Essay
be strengthened, and ethnic links should be
given emphasis regardless of number of genera-
tions from original arrival so as to be as inclu-
sive as possible (literally from Columbus to
now). It is highly desirable that ethnicities all
over the world feel this ‘‘American connection.’’
Castles and Miller also offer a good glimpse
at the main theoretical strands in immigration
studies. Among the analytical approaches
connected to economics, we are reminded of
the distinction between push (demographic
pressures, dearth of economic opportunities,
political repression) and pull (demand for labor,
economic opportunities, political freedoms)
factors. The neoclassical models stressing
utility maximization such as those espoused
by George Borjas receive too harsh a treatment
by the authors. True, these models tend to be
‘‘individualistic and ahistorical,’’ but they pro-
vide significant analytical rigor and when used
in combination with other approaches from
other disciplines can offer truly illuminating
insights.
The other cluster of theories they briefly
mention is of a ‘‘historical-structural’’ hue, of
Marxist and world system inspiration, which
gained currency in the 1970s. Although not
explicitly mentioned, these core-periphery
types of analyses are much influenced by
Immanuel Wallerstein. The main problem with
this cluster of theories, as the authors appropri-
ately point out, is that the interests of capital
are ‘‘all-determining’’ and ignore ‘‘motivations
and actions of the individuals and groups
involved.’’
There is a third approach to the study of
migration that the authors describe. Called
migration systems theory, it is an approach
that I think a serious student of globalization
would be naturally inclined to arrive at on his
or her own, even without reading about it.
Migration systems theory postulates basically
the need to study both ends of the flow and most
notably the ‘‘prior links existing between send-
ing and receiving countries based on coloniza-
tion, political influence, trade, investment or
 Book Brief/Book Essay
cultural ties.’’ This approach, to which the
authors subscribe, reflects in their view an over-
all ‘‘trend towards a more inclusive and inter-
disciplinary understanding,’’ emerging as a
‘‘new mainstream of migration theory.’’
Most interestingly, the approach looks at
the interaction between macrostructures (the
political economy of world markets, the rela-
tionships among states, and the laws, institu-
tions, and policies established by sending and
arrival states to regulate migration flows and
settlements) and microstructures (the informal
networks developed by the migrants them-
selves in order to adjust to the challenges and
problems facing them, including personal rela-
tionships; family, friendship and community
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ties; household patterns; organizations for
mutual help on economic and social questions).
An offshoot of this approach is ‘‘transnational-
ism,’’ which looks at the transnational commu-
nities that result from the linkages being
established between societies on account of
migration. The recent growth of transnational
business, political, and cultural communities
is not a new phenomenon, but globalization
has led to their proliferation. This is a clear
extension of the multiplication of nonstate
actors observed by political scientists at least
since the early 1970s.3
The authors go on to examine briefly some
aspects of the concept of ethnicity and note
how its characteristics can be used not just for
identification but also for exclusion. They also
state that the decline of working-class parties
and trade unions, as well as the materializing
of the economic restructurings in the early
1970s (which have led various segments of the
population to feel that their livelihoods were
under threat), may be factors militating toward
more virulent forms of racism. Castles and
Miller also talk about class, gender, and posi-
tion in the life cycle.4 In essence, the authors
convincingly argue that ‘‘immigrants and their
descendants do not have a static, closed, homo-
geneous ethnic identity but instead multiple
identities influenced by a variety of cultural,
American Foreign Policy Interests
539
social and other factors.’’ These concepts are
very relevant for the predominant form of
political organization, the nation-state.
Central to these themes is the concept of
citizenship and its connection with different
notions of what is a nation. Several models of
citizenship are presented. The authors talk
about an imperial model in which the notion
of subject, predating the American and French
revolutions, is crucial. It applied largely to mul-
tiethnic empires such as the Ottoman and
British and, in some respects, even the Soviet
Union. The folk or ethnic model of citizenship
is based instead on belonging in terms of ethni-
city (the reader knowledgeable about these
issues will immediately think: ius sanguinis).
Germany, until reforms introduced in 2000,
constituted the most stringent example of it.
The republican model, essentially centered on
the nation as a political community, is based
on a constitution and laws. It is essentially very
assimilationist, with France possibly its best
current example. The multicultural model
leaves newcomers ample opportunities to main-
tain their cultural characteristics provided they
respect the political rules of the nation. Major
examples would be Australia, Canada, and
Sweden in the 1970s and 1980s. The authors
of course note a move away from it in many
countries since the 1990s. The last model Cas-
tles and Miller mention is one they call trans-
national in which individuals with multiple
identities (and feelings of belonging) partici-
pate in a variety of political communities.
Affected also by the shift of political and eco-
nomic power toward ‘‘multinational corpora-
tions and international agencies which are not
currently open to democratic control,’’ political
participation by these individuals presents
and will present problems for democracies that
will have to be confronted and resolved. The
authors acknowledge that the very survival of
democracies may be at stake.
Castles and Miller then proceed to examine
international migration briefly before 1945.
They state that the era of mass migration to
 540
Europe and North America between 1850 and
1914 was most affected by industrialization
and that after 1914, ‘‘war, xenophobia and eco-
nomic stagnation caused a considerable decline
in migration.’’ In the United States, two major
pieces of legislation, passed in 1921 and 1924,
created a national-origins quota system that
would reduce immigration significantly until
the 1960s. The period following World War II
in highly developed countries is divided by the
authors into two main phases. Up to 1973, immi-
gration policies were characterized by ‘‘guest-
worker systems’’ from the ‘‘European periphery
to Western Europe’’; migration of ‘‘colonial work-
ers’’ to the former colonial powers; and perma-
nent migration to North America (to the
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United States most notably since the reforms
of 1965) and Australia, at the beginning, from
Europe and later from Latin America and Asia.
The authors go on to examine the period from
the early 1970s to now. They note among
others: the overall decline of government-orga-
nized recruitment of foreign workers to Wes-
tern Europe; the increased importance of
family reunions; the transformation of several
Southern and Central European countries
from countries of emigration into countries of
immigration; and the growing international
mobility of highly skilled personnel. Among
the economic developments cited by the
authors, it is worth mentioning those of
‘‘changes in global investment patterns, with
increased capital exports from developed coun-
tries,’’ and the setting up of production facil-
ities in developing countries.
On these two connected trends, I would
have pointed out about the latter the explana-
tory power of the Product-Life-Cycle model, so
well known by international economists. On
the other hand, with regard to the former
trend, I would have alerted the reader to the
paradox we are witnessing with the flow of
large exports of capital from several developing
Asian countries (such as China) in recent years.
In this case, obviously, the explanation resides
with the desire by these countries to achieve
American Foreign Policy Interests
Book Brief/Book Essay
greater competitiveness through the exchange
rate. Many, needless to say, are very concerned
with the not completely unjustifiable protec-
tionist backlash that could come from Con-
gress. In any case, the point that the authors
make that international migration is inextric-
ably linked to international production, distri-
bution, and investment, especially if one
connects this set of economic dimensions with
the globalization of culture, is nearly impossi-
ble to argue against.
Castles and Miller go on to examine the
various strategies employed by governments
to regulate (typically not too successfully)
immigration: employer sanctions (while heavily
debated in the United States, in Western
Europe supported by the main political par-
ties); legalization programs; temporary work
programs; refugee and asylum policies; region-
al policies (North American Free Trade Agree-
ment [NAFTA], European Union [EU]);
human smuggling and trafficking (important
to distinguish). We are also reminded that
there is a ‘‘migration industry’’ (and therefore
a lobby) comprising people who earn a living
as ‘‘travel agents, labor recruiters, brokers,
interpreters and housing agents.’’
The book continues by covering migration’s
impact outside the developed countries. We are
reminded again of the multidimensional (eco-
nomic, demographic, political, social, cultural,
and environmental) ‘‘changes which stem from
decolonization, modernization and uneven
development.’’ Castles and Miller predict that
these processes will speed up, leading to even
larger migrations. The integration of new geo-
graphical areas in the world economy is thus
a ‘‘continuation of historical processes that
began in the fifteenth century and the ensuing
diffusion of new philosophical values and eco-
nomic’’ (including, in my view, the principle of
limited liability) ‘‘and cultural practices around
the globe.’’ We are also reminded of the magni-
tude of the problems facing urban–rural migra-
tion and the swelling of cities like Cairo or
Lagos and, interestingly, the difficulty in
 Book Brief/Book Essay
reversing migration as shown, for instance, in
the limited success met by the repatriation poli-
cies enacted during the Asian crisis. Most inter-
estingly, the authors see Asia as a region that
will experience great internal migratory move-
ments, with the fast growing economies of East
and Southeast Asia acting as powerful magnets.
The authors continue their analysis by look-
ing at the key issue of the economic impact of
migration on the receiving country’s labor
markets. They correctly report that the impact
on the local workers is not negative, at least as
most of the empirical literature suggests. The
authors also correctly report the fact that
some categories among the less skilled of the
domestic workers may lose out. To add to the
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complexity, there is also the significant risk of
discrimination that immigrants can experience.
Castles and Miller point out that some sociolo-
gists maintain that the economic marginaliza-
tion of some groups and their exclusion in the
1990s substituted the conflict between labor
and capital as the main social problem in
advanced societies.
In these final sections of the book, immigra-
tion and ethnicity get even more clearly inter-
twined. The authors maintain that the future
character of the immigrating ethnic groups will
depend to a large extent on what the state does
in the early stages of migration. The authors
(provocatively and not too persuasively as far
as most Western countries are concerned) favor
the immediate granting to permanent immi-
grants of full rights in all spheres, which leads
them to acknowledge the fact that ‘‘removing
the link between citizenship and ethnic origins
means changing the defining principle of the
nation-state.’’ The authors note that the nation-
alism of the last two centuries attempted to
create myths of homogeneity even though very
few states were ethnically homogeneous. In the
ultimate analysis, it is in the realm of politics
where immigration flows can have the most
profound and enduring impact.
This is in reality one of the most monumen-
tal challenges facing policymakers in many
American Foreign Policy Interests
541
countries of the world now and in the years to
come. The challenges are especially daunting
for U.S. policymakers. The United States is
the country with the largest number of individ-
uals born abroad (31 million counted in the
2000 census), and they truly come from all over
the world. Thus, as with so many areas and
because of its global role, the United States is
a pacesetter whose policy influence is immense.
Two major issues have to be confronted at
present: terrorism and the flow of illegal immi-
grants from Mexico. They have to be managed,
keeping in mind the delicate balance that has
to be struck among our national economic,
social, and humanitarian interests (regrettably
often misunderstood abroad) versus the inter-
ests of those who want to infringe our laws;
border control versus the benefits deriving from
trade, investment, tourism, and intellectual
capital inflows; welcoming large masses of indi-
viduals from many cultures versus the mainte-
nance of a civic culture that has served us (and,
on balance, the world) well.5 These were dilem-
mas identified more than a decade ago by the
U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. They
are still crucial and relevant today.
Our multiethnicity can be a valuable asset
from the point of view of the outward projection
of our image. It is rather unfortunate that some
of the less worthy intellectual and physical
products of our society get so much visibility and
(largely deserved) criticism abroad, whereas
our contributions to science, to lengthening life
expectancy, to improving through good prod-
ucts the quality of life of people worldwide are
taken for granted. It is also unfortunate that
freedoms (and tolerance and generosity) so
much at the basis of our economic (and the
world’s) prosperity and ability to innovate are
so unappreciated and misunderstood. Perhaps
a judicious greater use of our educated ‘‘ethnics’’
in the many Foreign Visitors’ Programs that we
have could get the message across abroad
that although we do not necessarily agree
with one another and our government at all
times, as individuals we can all participate in
 542
the policy process and as a people share a great
love for our and others’ freedom, peace, and
progress.
—Giuseppe Ammendola
Board of Advisers
National Committee on
American Foreign Policy
Notes
1. Two other major works in the area are
edited works with multiple contributors.
Douglas S. Massey and J. Edward Taylor’s
International Migration: Prospects and Policies
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in a Global Market (Oxford, 2004) is largely
organized around regional areas and policies.
Maura L. Toro-Morn and Marixsa Alicea’s
Migration and Immigration: A Global View
(Westport, Connecticut, 2004) offers instead
several brief country analyses along political,
social, and economic dimensions.
2. This last figure comes from Rogelio Saenz
et al., ‘‘The United States: Immigration to the
Melting Pot of the Americas’’ in Toro-Morn
and Alicea, op cit.
3. Among the political scientists critical of
exclusively state-centric approaches to the
study of international relations, see, for
instance, the classic Robert O. Keohane and
Joseph S. Nye, Power and Interdependence:
World Politics in Transition, 2nd edition
(Glenview, Illinois, 1989; 1st edition, Boston,
1977); Richard W. Mansbach et al., The Web of
World Politics: Non-State Actors in the Global
System (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1976); and
Samuel Huntington, ‘‘Transnational Organiza-
tions in World Politics’’ in World Politics (April
1973): 333–368. In addition, see the writings
of Jessica Matthews and Raymond Vernon. It
also has to be pointed out that since the early
1990s, the breakdown and splintering of states
and the increase in the substate level of vio-
lence through ethnic-based conflicts have
further enhanced the need to approach the
American Foreign Policy Interests
View publication stats
Book Brief/Book Essay
study of the field of international relations
through nonstate-based analytical approaches.
This trend is not lost on the two authors of
The Age of Migration.
4. The life-cycle concept is well researched
in the economics literature in a variety of
contexts such as consumption (Friedman,
Modigliani) and taxation (Barro). An interest-
ing avenue of research in this area would be
the connection between education and the
age-earnings profile among immigrant and
ethnic groups in the United States.
5. See www.utexas.edu=lbj=uscir, quoted in
the excellent and comprehensive Reynolds
Farley and John Haaga, eds., The American
People: Census 2000 (New York, 2005): 298.
Intellectual capital inflow, in the opinion of
many, has been stymied by excessively restric-
tive policies in granting visas, although others
view national security considerations as out-
weighing these concerns. The implementation
of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa
Entry Reform Act of 2002 subscribes in the
main to the logic of the latter group.
News and Views
On September 27 and 28, 2005, the NCAFP
organized and cosponsored the opening panel of
the annual Dwight D. Eisenhower National
Security Series in Washington, D.C., one of
the most important international relations
conferences of the year. It is attended by more
than 500 senior officers of the armed forces,
American and foreign diplomats and other
officials, and scholars. The conference is the
culminating event of a yearlong program of
workshops and seminars. The general theme
this year was ‘‘Shaping National Security—
National Power in an International World.’’
The theme of the NCAFP panel was ‘‘Power
and National Sovereignty.’’ The organizer
and moderator was Bernard E. Brown