Globalisation & Migration

26. 10. 2004 - Tony Addy

<ol type="1">
<li value="1">


Introduction


</ol>


Globalisation is a process that has only been recognised as significant for about 10 years. There are contested understandings of what exactly is new about a globalising economy, but one common feature is the increasing ability of economic actors to act `globally in real time'. The combination of new communication technology and deregulation of finance flows creates the possibilities for the globalising economy. Globalisation under the present conditions of extreme competition has a big impact on most areas of the world. We can see, on the one side, an integration of economic activities as firms merge and develop their control over markets. But, on the other side, it is generally agreed that the increasing integration of economic activity at a `high level' tends to produce fragmentation and disintegration at the lower levels. Globalisation has the effect of increasing risk and uncertainty especially for those in lower income levels of any society. The processes of transition in Central and Eastern European countries have taken place under the conditions of globalisation, which has amplified the shocks and increased the unpredictability of the future work possibilities for many. For many more the effect has been a catastrophic loss of income and economic security.











This is very much linked to the question of migration. It is generally true that the more poverty and economic and social insecurity, the more migration occurs as people try to regain some control over their lives. Since globalisation increases insecurity we have also seen an increase in migration (see section 3 below).











2. Globalisation and Migration - The `Pull Factors'





But it is also true that, in spite of the fact that migration is heavily regulated, globalisation is associated with an increase in migration. Examples include:


<ul>
<li value="0">


the need for skilled workers in the core countries of globalisation


<li value="1">


the need for care workers increases as more single parent or dual earner families are created. Migrants are a cheap source of care and we now see the establishment of chains of care as migrants in the west care for children or elderly people, using some of their income to buy care `back home'. The second carer may use some of that income to buy further care in their own home (often a village in the global south)


<li value="2">


the need for a supply of cheap labour


<li value="3">


the individualisation of the most globalised societies produces a need for emotional satisfaction or/and a search for `new' sexual experiences.


</ul>








Generally then, more and more areas of life are marketised and legal and non-legal supply chains are established to fill these markets (the pull factors). It is important to notice that women and children are the worst affected by this development.











3. Globalisation & Migration - The `Push Factors' 





Most people would rather not `migrate' but are pushed by circumstances to migrate in order to survive. In the CEE region we can see very clearly the operation of several factors in the social and economic context, which increase peoples willingness to consider legal or non-legal migration:


<ul>
<li value="4">


loss of earnings through the fall in purchasing power of wages or social benefits (hyper-inflation); the phenomenon of `working for no pay' in order to keep the workplace functioning.


<li value="5">


collapse of state social security, health and education systems


<li value="6">


rise in unemployment which, unlike in western, countries has badly affected women. There are two reasons, first the participation rate of women was very high in the former system and secondly a higher percentage of women were in vulnerable sectors such as factory welfare and kindergartens or state sector.


<li value="7">


incidence of armed conflict which has created, for example, more than 2,000,000 refugees in 10 years to 1999.


<li value="8">


Growth in some cases of environmental hazards


</ul>








Secondly, the actual conditions of work in the region have also undergone a rapid change, for example there has been a huge growth in inequality. People now have to face up to the following realities:


<ul>
<li value="9">


many have to work in at least two jobs in order to survive. This is especially true for women and those in rural areas, who often combine farming with another job.


<li value="10">


the deregulation of working conditions has created very oppressive work places and the rise of forms of labour such as industrial homework which had been almost eradicated.


<li value="11">


the widening of gender gaps in relation to pay and public participation. Women lose out at every point: they have lower salaries, are longer time unemployed, lack opportunities for retraining especially outside bigger cities and towns and lack affordable child care to enable them to work.


<li value="12">


growing violence against women, which is always associated with increases in male unemployment.


<li value="13">


The growing practice of sexual `favours' being part of the expected `job description'.


</ul>








(As far as women are concerned this reality can lead to an acceptance of violence and abuse as `normal' and it means that the abuse of trafficking is not that `abnormal')











4. Conclusion





This very general overview of migration in the region is the background to the flows that run from east to west. Some countries are mainly `senders' and most are both `senders' and `receivers' in this complex market. The `supply chain', which is set up to handle non-legal migration shades into the supply chain for the trafficking in people. The regulatory system perversely reinforces the power of the suppliers and weakens the position of the non-legal migrants/trafficked people. My main point is to emphasise that people tend to migrate as ameans to address insecurity and marginalisation. Experience shows that when quality employment is available locally most people do not wish to permanently move to a country distant from their original home. Traffickers and those who organise non-legal migration thrive on the fact that people want to overcome their poverty and insecurity. For the so-called victims, the choice may be a rational one. The challenge is to work on the root causes as well as with those negatively affected.











Tony Addy/CEE & Globalisation/Personal