Networks in Migration Processes

Abstract

Much of the work on the networks of migrants and their descendants concentrates mainly on the ethnicity of the persons in the network; however, if we are interested in the way networks reinforce ethnic inequalities or foster social mobility, other dimensions may be at least as important as the ethnic composition. In this chapter I describe how migration itself, rather than ethnic identification, shapes social networks. Even in times of electronic communication, space has effects on social relationships, for many social transactions (from child care to commensality) fundamental for maintaining social relationships are difficult or impossible at a distance. Migration is age-selective and this has effects on ties formed in the place of immigration. Labour migration has strong effects on the neighbourhoods migrant families end up in, and these in turn affect the schools their children go to and who they play with outside the home. Most migration is class-selective, forming networks more class-homogeneous in the place of immigration than in the place of departure. So a series of factors linked specifically to ‘the migration process’ have structural effects on the social networks of migrants and their descendants. In this chapter I draw on studies of internal and international migration to show that these effects are important even where citizenship is not at issue. I argue that there are, in fact, marked similarities in the networks of internal and international labour migrants, for example, in the tendency (under certain conditions) to form networks made up primarily of persons from the same place of origin. So I suggest that “the migration process” may affect migrants’ social networks as much as ethnic dynamics. And that this throws light on the social mechanisms behind the forms of inequality documented in many migration contexts. Drawing on qualitative interviews with different types of (internal and international) migrants, I show that the initial social ties used to achieve one’s transfer from one place to another (e.g. a classic migration chain, or professional contacts) have lasting effects, and that these explain some differences between the networks formed by “skilled” and “unskilled” migrants (more work-based in the former case, more kin-based in the latter). I also show how the networks formed by children of migrants are shaped by the specific conditions (net of class) of labour migration.