Tides of Migration: A Study of Migration Decision-Making and Social Progress in Sao Miguel, Azores.

Abstract

The effect of past migration phenomena on migration decision-making in the late 1970's is examined using data from the Azores, Portugal. A model of the migration process emphasizes the importance of understanding the home system and the interplay of factors between home and destination areas over time. Data are presented from participant-observation and interviews in communities of the home system of S. Miguel. S. Miguel is the largest island of the Azores, a region where primarily permanent, family-type, international migration to America has contributed to a twenty percent population decline over the last twenty years. Additional data were collected in destination areas of North America. The study analyzes migration decision-making within an historical context. It is a context distinctly influenced by flows of people and communications associated with migration since the 1950's. Decision-making is affected by multiple levels of constraints and incentives which shape migration behavior; regional and national relationships, dimensions in the home social system, and individual and family relationships. Migration is examined as part of broader processes of social change and development and continuity in the patterns of social change. The findings of this analysis show that emigration from S. Miguel is a culturally sanctioned, historically flexible pattern of adaptation to limited home resources. Migration since the 1950's has served as a means for individuals to increase social and economic status outside the home sytem. Emigrants during this period were primarily agricultural laborers. In the 1970's changes in both home and destination areas led to increased contact between emigrants and better-educated people in the home society. At the same time the standard of living and access to education improved at home partly due to the effects of previous migration, but without a significant increase in opportunities for the educated. A combination of factors including family ties, opportunities, and information flows thus led to a rising proportion of skilled emigrants. The choice of emigration also serves as an adjustment mechanism in family support systems. Migration decision-making is associated with specific transitional points in life stages, the most important of which are setting up a family and family expansion. Transitional points, along with evaluations and perceptions of opportunities vary among differing social levels. The trend toward more skilled emigrants is likely to continue as long as opportunities remain limited at home. Interactions between America and S. Miguel which seek to utilize the resources of each area, for example tourism, and expansion of family connections through emigration reinforce the present trend. The study contributes to the development of an actor-oriented approach to migration which takes into account the effects of previous migration and the flexibility of a home system in which patterns of migration are changing. This approach suggests the utility of particularistic analysis of multiple factors for social planning and development in situations of migration.