Migration is Breaking Down Cultural Barriers Between People - Report Example

Migration Is Breaking Down Cultural Barriers Between People Student Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Migration is the change of residence by people across political and administrative boundaries with the intention of staying for longer period. Migration can be internal where people move from one region to another within the same country or international where people move from one country to another. People move from one area to another for various reasons which include wanting to stay in areas with likely higher income levels, search for employment and also for their own social well-being. People may migrate willingly but sometimes they may also migrate unwillingly due to crisis caused by insecurity, war and political differences. International migration mostly occurs from developing to developed nations. It also occurs from least developed nations to newly industrialized nations which is mainly due to search for employment. Some governments have however accepted the idea of permanent settlement of immigrants but have demanded for cultural assimilation of individuals so that they can be granted rights and citizenship. This has resulted in cultural changes for both the immigrants and the host communities (Castles 2000). This essay therefore discusses and seeks to support the statement that migration is breaking down cultural barriers between people. Role of globalization on migration Globalization has led to opening of national boundaries making it easier for the flow of commodities as well as the people. It has increased the rate and eased the complexity of international migration. Traditionally, people were being motivated to migrate due to “push” and “pull”. Push factors are described as factors that motivate people to leave their places of origin and settle in other places while pull factors are those that attract people to other areas (Higgins 2008). However, globalization has brought another type of motivators known as ‘network’ factors which even if they do not directly cause migration, they enable it. These factors include easy flow of information, improved communication across countries and cheaper and faster means of transportation. The global economy has also created other forces that are encouraging migration. As people’s businesses grow and expand beyond boundaries, the owners outsource for labor especially in developing countries where it is cheaper. This means that in a global economy jobs can move to the potential migrants instead of migrants moving to look for them (Young 2004). In the current era of globalization, migration is happening along trends of the world economy. Between the year 2000 and 2010, the number of immigrants all over the world increased from 150 million to 214 million. The global economy characterized by industrialized is contributing to declining rates of fertility since women have increased their participation in the labor force. This may result in low numbers of skilled labor in the future. Industrialized nations will therefore have to rely more on immigrants to address the problem of reducing labor supply and the high demand for skilled labor (Peter 2003). Immigration will therefore continue with globalization which has opened ways to more industrialization. An example of this has been seen among the industrialized nations in South and East Asia. Countries such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have experienced declining fertility rates and a sharp increase in participation of women in the workforce. The middle class and professional strata have also expanded following advances in education. These changes have resulted in commodification of domestic labor and some of the leisure services. Therefore demand for low wage domestic workers has increased as part of this new economy. Most of the immigrants to Southeast Asia are now domestic workers comprising of both unskilled and semiskilled. Therefore the domestic workers also have a place in the globalized economy and are also part of transnational placement of labor. Specialized agencies in countries where these workers originate have come up to be able to manage these workers as well as their movement. Generally, most developed countries rely on immigration as a source of labor required to sustain their growing economies (Young 2004). Cultural identity issues among immigrants Migration causes disconnection of the people from familiar cultures and social set ups. This experience of disconnection is usually followed by acculturation. Acculturation is defined a process that involves change of culture and adaptation that takes place when people from different cultural backgrounds come into contact. Regarding international migration, acculturation mainly involves two types of adaptation. One is adoption of values, behaviors and values of the host culture and the second one is retention of values, behaviors and beliefs of the person’s original culture. Basically, those are the dimensions that make a person’s cultural identity. Immigrant’s cultural identity gets affected by various factors that occur during and after the process of migration (Scheffler ‎2007). Some immigrants end up suffering “cultural bereavement”. This has been defined by Eisenbruch (1991) as the experience of a person or a group of persons who have lost their social structures, their cultural values as well as their self-identity. When immigrants come into contacts with people of the majority culture and other immigrants, their cultural identities begin to interact. This may result in feelings of comfort or feelings of distress and alienation. The ability of a person to adjust to new culture however depends on factors such as the country of origin and the country the person has migrated to as well as the social characteristics of that person (Eisenbruch 1991). Changes in cultural identity can cause low self-esteem among the immigrants and can also affect their mental health. This can result into rejection where the individual withdraws from the host cultures, deculturation where the individual loses his/her cultural identity or assimilation where an individual adapts to the host culture resulting to disappearance of cultural differences (Poynting & Mason, 2008). Migration and cultural diversity International migration has led to cultural diversity among populations that were historically known to be homogeneous. A country such as Canada has experienced rising numbers of immigrants since 1970s. Since 2001, immigration to Canada has been ranging between 221, 352 and 262,236 immigrants per year. In 2011, 20% of Canadian population was made up of foreigners. United States of America also experiences high numbers of immigrants receiving about 1.03 million immigrants per year. The continued increase in international migration from less developed to highly developed nations has caused changes in racial and cultural composition of communities hosting the immigrants. This cultural heterogeneity and diversity has led to adoption of a policy of multiculturalism by some countries to respond to the rising cultural diversity (Kymlicka 2010). Multiculturalism in dealing with cultural diversity Multiculturalism is a concept that was adopted by some countries to offer guidance on the appropriate way of responding to cultural diversity highly contributed to by immigrant communities. It occurs naturally in a society that is willing to accept the immigrants and their culture, and the immigrants that are also willing to accept the culture of their host communities. Some governments have endorsed multiculturalism and encouraged it while in other countries it occurs due to lack of a single strong culture. Canada was the first nation to adopt multiculturalism in 1971 as an official government policy. The adoption of this policy was to affirm the dignity and value placed on all Canadians despite their ethnic origin, language and religion. Initially, Canada had legislations that favored immigrants from countries such as Britain, America and European countries. After their amendments and adoption of multiculturalism, Canada has continued to receive high numbers of immigrants from all over the world and they have been well assimilated among different communities (Michael 2013). In a country such as Australia, multiculturalism started in 1972 inform of policies that would help in responding to increasing social inequalities that were being faced by immigrants. It was such a concern because those inequalities were being carried forward to the second generation of Australian- born children belonging to the immigrants (Poynting & Mason 2008). Even though the policy was later faced with various challenges, it helped in promoting social inclusion of immigrants. Migration, multiculturalism and breakdown of cultural barriers Culture is a great driving force for communities. Multiculturalism has enabled communities to deal with cultural diversity created by immigrants. It has enabled people to deal with each other as a neighbor with similar interests and values. It has promoted assimilation of immigrants without any pressure to give up their cultures. The host communities are also able to freely identify themselves with immigrants. Some countries such as Canada have really opened up their cultural barriers to immigrants and have advanced multiculturalism to interculturalism which is a model for integration and administration cultural and ethnic diversity. Immigrants are being integrated into host communities in a process that involves three dimensions. The first one is integration of immigrants into the labor market, and then followed by integration into the political system by allowing their participation in elections, and finally social integration where they are included in social networks, civil societies and into highly formal organizations (Kymlicka 2010). For all this to happen, it implies that all the cultural barriers have been broken down and people of different origins are able to interact freely. Conclusion Traditionally, migration used to happen mostly for the wrong reasons. However, due to globalizations, there are positive forces driving the reasons for migration. Various communities have been in the past unable to assimilate the cultural differences caused by immigrants but with time, it has no longer been a challenge. With support from the government policies, immigrants have been protected and accepted by host communities and are therefore able to blend their cultures well. It is quite evident that migration has led to breakdown of cultural barriers from both the side of immigrants and the host communities. List of references Poynting, S & Mason, V 2008, The New Integrationism, the State and Islamophobia: Retreat from multiculturalism, Australia International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 36 230-246. Young, K 2004, Globalization and the changing management of migrating service workers in the Asia Pacific, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 34: 3, 287-303. Castles, S 2000, International migration at the beginning of the twenty-first century: global trends and issues. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. Peter, S 2003, World Migration in the Age of Globalization: Policy Implications and Challenges, New Zealand Population Review, 33/34: 1-22. Eisenbruch M 1991, From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees, Social Sciences and Medicine, 33:673–680. Michael, D 2013, Canadian Multiculturalism. Publication no. 2009-20-E. Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament, Ottawa, 14 May 2013. Kymlicka, W 2010, The current state of multiculturalism in Canada and research themes on Canadian multiculturalism 2008-2010, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. Scheffler, S ‎2007, “Immigration and the Significance of Culture,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 35(2): 93–125. Higgins, J 2008, Push and Pull factors, retrieved from http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/push-pull-factors.php Read More

In the current era of globalization, migration is happening along trends of the world economy. Between the year 2000 and 2010, the number of immigrants all over the world increased from 150 million to 214 million. The global economy characterized by industrialized is contributing to declining rates of fertility since women have increased their participation in the labor force. This may result in low numbers of skilled labor in the future. Industrialized nations will therefore have to rely more on immigrants to address the problem of reducing labor supply and the high demand for skilled labor (Peter 2003).

Immigration will therefore continue with globalization which has opened ways to more industrialization. An example of this has been seen among the industrialized nations in South and East Asia. Countries such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have experienced declining fertility rates and a sharp increase in participation of women in the workforce. The middle class and professional strata have also expanded following advances in education. These changes have resulted in commodification of domestic labor and some of the leisure services.

Therefore demand for low wage domestic workers has increased as part of this new economy. Most of the immigrants to Southeast Asia are now domestic workers comprising of both unskilled and semiskilled. Therefore the domestic workers also have a place in the globalized economy and are also part of transnational placement of labor. Specialized agencies in countries where these workers originate have come up to be able to manage these workers as well as their movement. Generally, most developed countries rely on immigration as a source of labor required to sustain their growing economies (Young 2004).

Cultural identity issues among immigrants Migration causes disconnection of the people from familiar cultures and social set ups. This experience of disconnection is usually followed by acculturation. Acculturation is defined a process that involves change of culture and adaptation that takes place when people from different cultural backgrounds come into contact. Regarding international migration, acculturation mainly involves two types of adaptation. One is adoption of values, behaviors and values of the host culture and the second one is retention of values, behaviors and beliefs of the person’s original culture.

Basically, those are the dimensions that make a person’s cultural identity. Immigrant’s cultural identity gets affected by various factors that occur during and after the process of migration (Scheffler ‎2007). Some immigrants end up suffering “cultural bereavement”. This has been defined by Eisenbruch (1991) as the experience of a person or a group of persons who have lost their social structures, their cultural values as well as their self-identity. When immigrants come into contacts with people of the majority culture and other immigrants, their cultural identities begin to interact.

This may result in feelings of comfort or feelings of distress and alienation. The ability of a person to adjust to new culture however depends on factors such as the country of origin and the country the person has migrated to as well as the social characteristics of that person (Eisenbruch 1991). Changes in cultural identity can cause low self-esteem among the immigrants and can also affect their mental health. This can result into rejection where the individual withdraws from the host cultures, deculturation where the individual loses his/her cultural identity or assimilation where an individual adapts to the host culture resulting to disappearance of cultural differences (Poynting & Mason, 2008).

Migration and cultural diversity International migration has led to cultural diversity among populations that were historically known to be homogeneous. A country such as Canada has experienced rising numbers of immigrants since 1970s. Since 2001, immigration to Canada has been ranging between 221, 352 and 262,236 immigrants per year.

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