Social Analysis

          Author, David Bacon, whose writings focus on globalization and migration pointed out that in order to get a better understanding of a migrant’s plight into a foreign country it is better to refer to them as migrants, as no other term takes into account the migrant’s origins, journey, motivating factors, or their destination (2012).  Bacon’s perspective is especially powerful and enlightening in the midst of this year’s election where differences between cultures have been exemplified and cast as negative and unwanted.  Terms like “illegal”, “undocumented”, and “immigrant” have served to dehumanize the migrant.  This notion undermines the efforts of what I know to be a hard-working population.  It has directly affected the lives of many loved ones.  Consequently, the two concepts that stood out to me the most during the course of this semester are that of transnationalism and the study of factors that influence migration.  The concept of  transnationalism is of importance because it illustrates that a migrant is not solely characterized their status as a migrant.  The study of the factors that influence migration movements is also important because ignorance to such factors can brew the kind of intolerance we see this electoral season.   

           Schiller et al., points out that we need to get rid of the image that a migrant is afloat in the world and without home, as today’s migrant is of two worlds (1992).  A migrant maintains connection with their home country all the while building their lives in their new country.  This occurrence has been dubbed transnationalism and the migrant as a transnational migrant.  As an example, my interviewee/mother communicates with her family in El Salvador almost every day.  They communicate through Facebook regularly and she has developed better social media skills than I have.  My mother is anchored in both the United States and in El Salvador.  She has family in both places.  She works here to support her family within the United States and sends remittances to her mother and relatives when she is able.

          There are common misconceptions as to why migrants leave their home countries.  Douglas S. Massey, Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, argues that migrants do not migrate due to the home country’s lack of economic development, rapid population growth, or a migrant’s desire to milk the United States benefit system (2005).  On the contrary, there are countries with high emigration rates that have booming economies and low birth rates.  Thus, it is necessary to explore other possible reasons.  Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, points out that the United States’ involvement in the economies and affairs of other countries create the economic and social circumstances which can influence a people toward migration (1993).  In this way, a bridge is created between two countries.  For example, the United States was heavily involved in the Salvadoran Civil War and was in fact providing funds for its continuation.  I recall my mother saying that she did not plan to come to the United States and it is something that just happened.  However, the knowledge that the United States was so involved and in light of Sassen’s article it is possible that my family’s decisions may have been influenced by factors they may not have been wholly aware of.  El Salvador is a tiny country of roughly 6 million people.  Yet, it is estimated that 2 million Salvadoran origin Hispanics lived in the US in 2013 which places Salvadorans as the fourth largest Latino population in the US (Lopez 2013).  Perhaps the sole motive of the mass migration of Salvadorans from their homeland was to escape with their lives.  However, this suggests there should be a more evenly dispersed population in the Americas and what we see is a concentration of Salvadorans within the United States. 

Bacon, David. 2012. Displaced, unequal & criminalized: Fighting for the rights of migrants in the US.

Lopez, Gustavo. 2015. Hispanics of Salvadoran origin in the United States, 2013, Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center.

Massey, Douglas. 2005. Five myths about immigration: Common misconceptions underlying the US border-enforcement policy, Immig Policy Ctr.

Sassen, Saskia. 1993. Why migration? Report on the Americas 25(1) 1992: 14-19.

Schiller, N., Basch, L., Blanc-Szanton, C. 1992. Transnationalism: A new analytic framework for understanding migration, Towards a Transnational Perspective on Migration: Race,Class, Ethnicity, and Nationalism Reconsidered. NY: Annals of NY Academy of Sciences.