Transnational Migrations and Social Transformations: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

In this article, the author tackles the combined effects of transnational migrations and social transformations. During the last few years, it has become more and more obvious that globalization characterizes more and more transnational migrations. New forms of interdependence, transnational societies, and regional cooperation transform the lives of millions of people, who are linking the future of states and societies. In the countries of the South, international migrations contribute to the development of these societies by remittances of migrants from the North to the South, which play an important role in national and even international development plans. World system theory considers international migrations as a structural consequence of the extension of markets into a global political-hierarchical system. With the extension of capitalism to ever greater parts of the world, increasing numbers of people are introduced into the global economy. International migrations followed the creation of global links between primary goods, labour and land. Some simple theses result from this: international migrations follow international capital movements, but in the opposite direction. The creation of ideological and material relations still completes these migration processes: colonialism, common languages, commerce, transport, mass media and travel link and have linked different regions of the world and cause international migration flows to develop. For many countries of the South, international migrations are one aspect of the social crisis that accompanies their integration into a global market, and their social and economic change. For several years, it appears that migrant communities create networks that link regions of origin and those of immigration. Today, these transnational links contribute to changes of economic, social, demographic and cultural structures, which put into question national identities. International migrations do not change just the migrants themselves, but whole societies and their relations with each other.