International (im)mobility and global justice in times of gated globalism: toward an institutional migration theory

• In Event: 2407 - Theorizing Migration Flows

Abstract

While international migration, especially from low and middle-income countries to high income countries, is heavily regulated, we still lack an adequate theory of the state. Existing migration theories do not mention the state at all, or see it as an actor that selectively increases the costs of unwanted migration, which may or may not deter migration depending on migrants’ other incentives and opportunity structures. That economic view overlooks the normative and cultural-cognitive dimensions of institutions: decisions shaping migration patterns – decisions by migrants and organisational targets and implementers – are also informed by the, partly unconscious, assessments regarding the appropriateness of immigration control. This paper sketches the contours of a new migration theory that will help us to better understand the intended and unintended migration outcomes of how states regulate international human movement. The theory is illustrated with examples from my research and a discussion of the consequences of the rise of ‘globalised citizenship’. Partly using WVS data, I show that the effectiveness of immigration control is under considerable cultural pressure under the influence of globalisation. Central principles of immigration control - such as the principle that employers should hire national citizens when employment opportunities are scarce – turn out to have become less accepted, including in the eyes of inhabitants of poorer countries. In order to understand international migration in the 21th Century, we should not only pay attention to international income inequality, demographic unbalances, international social networks and climate change: we should also consider cultural developments promoting new claims to cross-border mobility and global justice, and how immigration institutions will accommodate them.

Author

• Arjen Leerkes