Moving People and Shifting Representations

Abstract

The movement of people from one nation-state to another has become a dominant issue in these early years of the twenty-first century, engaging politicians, social scientists, and the general public throughout the world. The demographic data are striking in terms of both the absolute number of people who are moving and in the steadily increasing trend. In the year 2000, for example, nearly 180 million people were immigrants, moving from one country to another (United Nations 2002). The often-violent ramifications of this human movement can be seen in countries throughout the world---in the vigilante border patrols on the Mexican border of the United States, the unrest of Arab immigrants in Paris suburbs, and the political rhetoric and candidate assassination in the Netherlands.