Digaai platform in the context of transnational communities.

1. Transnational
Communities
- not your grandfather’s diaspora -
Digaai Meeting
Alvaro Lima, June 2009

2. AGENDA:
I. Globalization – A Different Perspective
II. Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
III. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
IV.Traditional versus Transnational Lenses
V. Measuring Transnationalism
VI.Some Implications of Transnationalism
VII.Project Portfolio

3. Globalization – A Different Perspective “compression of our spatial
and temporal worlds”
(D. Harvey)
Globalisation
Nation Feudal
States Tribes
Empires
”Globalization [...] as the
Globalisation as intensification of world-wide
Annihilation of Space/ social relations which link
Shrinking of the World distant localities in such a way
that local happenings are shaped
by events occurring many miles
“constraints of Geography
away and vice versa.” (Giddens
recede” (M. Waters)
1990, p. 64)
Dialectics of globalisation and localisation - glocalisation, global cities -
“space ... not only homogenised (and global), but always fragmented as
well. ... has not simply shrunk, but ... been transformed” (S. Kirsch)

4. Immigration Studies – A Brief Background
 Traditionally migration studies have been concerned with understanding the
origins and the impact of cross-borer flows;
 These flows have been understood mostly as a one way movement from sending
countries to receiving countries;
 Immigration policies have been almost entirely focused on procedures and
prohibitions governing admissions (who? how many? and what kind of
immigrants should be admitted?).

5.  There is a widespread belief that migration is caused by poverty, economic
stagnation, and overpopulation in the countries of origin unrelated to receiving
countries’ foreign policies, economic needs and broader international economic
conditions;
 While overpopulation, poverty, and economic stagnation all create pressures for
migration, there are systematic, structural relations between receiving countries’
policies and migration flows with worldwide evidence of a considerable patterning
in the geography of migrations.
poverty
stagnation
overpopulation
etc…

6. Foreign-Born Population of Rich OECD Countries from Developing Countries
Population Top Five
Total from Percent of Source
Top Five Source
Country Population Developing Total Countries
Countries
(millions) Countries Population (percent of
(millions) total)
United States 281.4 10.1 45.2 Mexico, Philippines, Puerto
28.4
Rico, India, China
Morocco, Ecuador,
Spain 40.8 1.5 3.7 44.2 Colombia, Argentina,
Venezuela
France 58.5 3.7 6.4 20.4 Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia,
Turkey, Vietnam
UK 58.8 5.1 30.1 India, Pakistan,
3.0
Bangladesh, Jamaica,
South Africa
Netherlands 16.0 1.2 7.6 48.6 Suriname, Turkey,
Indonesia, Morocco,
Netherlands Antilles
Portugal 10.4 0.5 4.5 62.8 Angola, Mozambique,
Brazil, Cape Verde,
Venezuela
Japan 127 1.0 69.6 North Korea, South Korea,
1.2
China, Brazil, Philippines
Source: Let Their People Come, Lant Pritchett, 2006

7.  Immigrant integration policies (education, training, placement,
ESOL, health care, entrepreneurship, citizenship, etc..) are
skeletal, ad hoc, under-funded and dominated by the ideology of
assimilation – the great melting pot of nations;
 As Nathan Glazer puts it, “the settlement, adaptation, and
progress, or lack of it, of immigrants is largely, in the U.S.
context, up to them.”
labor market
language acquisition
housing
education
etc…

8.  Re-integration policies for those returning are generally inexistent
making the re-settlement process prone to failure feeding back
emigration:
labor market
housing
education
etc…

9. What is “Immigrant Transnationalism” Anyway?
Transnationalism is “the process by which immigrants forge and sustain
multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin
and settlement… (they) take actions, make decisions, and develop
subjectivities and identities embedded in networks of relationships that
connect them simultaneously to two or more nation states” (Mandaville
2001:45)

10. Drivers of Transnationalism
 Developments in the means of transportation and
communications have changed the relations between people
and places (costs);
 International migrations have become crucial to the
demographic future of many developed countries;
 Global political transformations and new international legal
regimes weakened the state as the only legitimate source of
rights;
 Fostered by global consumption, global production, and
immigration, cultural hybridization are substituting folkloric
romanticism and political nationalism enshrined as essences
of national cultures;

11.  Contexts of exit and modes of incorporation facilitate or impede, foster
or discourage, demand or preclude some or all cross-border activities:
Contexts of Exit and Incorporation
Context of Exit: Context of Incorporation:
Education Level Inclusion & Exclusion
Race & Ethnicity Structures
Family Wealth Alien versus Citizenship
Urban versus Rural Rights
Origin Government & Other
Government & Other Support Systems
Support Systems Race and Ethnicity
etc. Structures
etc.

12. Traditional versus Transnational Lenses
Traditional Lenses: Transnational Lenses:
 immigration conceptualized as a bipolar relation  immigration conceptualized as flows of cross-
between sending and receiving countries border economic, political and social-cultural
(moving from there to here) activities (being here and there)
 emigration is the result of individual search for  emigration is the result of geopolitical interests,
economic opportunity, political freedom, etc. global linkages, and economic globalization
 migrants are assumed to be the poorest of the  migrants are not the poorest of the poor nor do
poor they come from the poorest nations
 immigrants occupy low-skilled jobs in  growth in the service and technology-based
agriculture, construction, and manufacturing jobs create opportunities for low as well as high
skilled migrants
 Immigrants steadily shift their contextual focus,  After the initial movement, migrants continue to
economic and social activities to receiving maintain ties with their country of origin
country
 immigration should not bring about significant  immigration creates hybrid societies with a
change in the receiving society richer cultural milieu
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13. Monthly Remittance by Nationality
$875
$900
$800 MEASURING
$700
$600
TRANSNATIONALISM
$500 ABOVE AVERAGE
$398
$400 AVERAGE = $294
$331
$278 $274
$300 BELOW AVERAGE
$218
$192 $188 $185 $177
$200
$113
$100
$-
Purchasing of Nostalgic Products Among Brazilians
50.0% 45.4%
Financial Accounts in Country of Origin - Brazil 45.0%
40.0%
37.6% 35.0%
40.0%
30.0%
35.0% 25.0% 20.5%
28.9% 17.8%
20.0%
30.0% 26.0% 15.0%
25.0% 10.0% 5.1% 4.9% 3.7%
5.0% 1.6% 0.8% 0.2%
20.0% 0.0%
15.0%
10.0% 5.5%
5.0% 1.6%
0.3%
0.0%
Does not Checking Savings Credit card Investment Foreign
have / NR account account account currency
savings

14. Help Beyond Remittances
50.0% 46.6%
45.0%
40.0% 36.80%
35.0% ABOVE AVERAGE
30.0% 27.0%
22.7%
25.0% AVERAGE = 19.2%
20.0%
20.0%
15.3%
14.0% BELOW AVERAGE
15.0%
10.3%
9.1%
10.0% 5.7%
3.7%
5.0%
0.0%
MEASURING Support of Hometown Associations
TRANSNATIONALISM 30.0%
26.3%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0% ABOVE AVERAGE
12.4%
10.0%
10.0% AVERAGE = 6.7%
6.7%
5.0%
4.0% 3.5% BELOW AVERAGE
5.0% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4%
0.0%
0.0%
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15. MEASURING
TRANSNATIONALISM

16. Some Implications of Transnationalism
 Portability becomes crucial for transnational
migrants – education and certification processes;
investment and retirement schemes, health
insurance, etc.;
 The concept of “community,” “society,” as well
as “the local,” must be redefined as space of flows
(relationships), pluri-local and nation-state-boarder
spanning, instead of bounded geographic places –
geographic and social container spaces;
 Transnational immigrant entrepreneurs’ contributions to the economy have
to be recognized as such and not as just “ethnic;”
 Nation-state ideals of identity in both sending and receiving countries are
challenged by transnational practices – double citizenship, XXXX;
 States must re-conceive immigration and adapt their policies and
practices to accommodate transnational realities;

17. First Generation Innovation Portfolio
 Digaai.com
 Transnational Index
 Diaspora Capital Services
 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
 Transnational Fellows
 Research Projects & Publications

18. 4 million Brazilians using digaai.com worldwide to:
 communicate home and with each other - social networking;
 register their every day experiences;
 build unique video, photos, audio and text archives;
 search newspapers,
magazines, websites;
 contribute to Brazilian
diaspora history - wiki;
 store personal information
using private web space;
 transact on line.
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19. Transnational Index
 What:
 Data and survey-based ranking of communities by their degree of
transnationalism published annually in partnership with national
media
 Why:
 create awareness among policy makers of transnational phenomena
 identify social and
commercial innovation
opportunities for
transnational immigrant
communities
 build consciousness
among transnational
immigrants of unique
potential
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