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Αυτοί δεν είναι σαν εμάς : Το παρελθόν και το μέλλον της μετανάστευσης
Πολλοί πιστεύουν ότι η μετανάστευση είναι ένα φαινόμενο κυρίως των ημερών μας. Κι όμως, είναι παλιό όσο η ίδια η ανθρωπότητα. Η μετανάστευση είναι συνυφασμένη με την ανάδυση του πολιτισμού. Οι ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες, ωστόσο, αντιδρούσαν συνήθως αρνητικά στους νεοφερμένους. Ίσως ήταν ο αρχέγονος φόβος για τον «βάρβαρο», τον απολίτιστο κι απειλητικό ξένο...
Σήμερα ζούμε μια εποχή ταχύτατων αλλαγών: την εποχή της παγκοσμιοποίησης. Και η μετανάστευση παραμένει ένας από τους βασικούς μηχανισμούς της ανθρώπινης προόδου. Αλλά ο φόβος για τον «βάρβαρο» ζει και σήμερα, το ίδιο όπως παλιά.
Στον δημόσιο διάλογο συνήθως παραβλέπεται πως κάθε επιστημονική ανάλυση του φαινομένου της μετανάστευσης καταλήγει –σχεδόν μονότονα– στο ίδιο συμπέρασμα. Η διεθνής μετανάστευση ωφελεί τους πάντες: τις χώρες προέλευσης, τις χώρες προορισμού, τους ίδιους τους μετανάστες. Οι εκκλήσεις για περιορισμό της μοιάζει να προδίδουν άγνοια συνδυασμένη με φόβο.
Υπάρχει όμως και κάτι άλλο: στις πλούσιες χώρες οι πολίτες κάνουν λίγα παιδιά και ζουν πολλά χρόνια. Ο πληθυσμός τους γερνάει και σύντομα θ’ αρχίσει να συρρικνώνεται. Την ίδια στιγμή, η δεξαμενή των μεταναστών, που ακόμα φαντάζει ανεξάντλητη, θ’ αρχίσει γρήγορα να στερεύει. Η έλευση μεταναστών σήμερα αντιμετωπίζεται ως πρόβλημα. Αύριο θα γίνει το ζητούμενο. Και, ως συνήθως, κερδισμένες θα βγουν οι κοινωνίες που ήξεραν να προνοούν...
Σήμερα ζούμε μια εποχή ταχύτατων αλλαγών: την εποχή της παγκοσμιοποίησης. Και η μετανάστευση παραμένει ένας από τους βασικούς μηχανισμούς της ανθρώπινης προόδου. Αλλά ο φόβος για τον «βάρβαρο» ζει και σήμερα, το ίδιο όπως παλιά.
Στον δημόσιο διάλογο συνήθως παραβλέπεται πως κάθε επιστημονική ανάλυση του φαινομένου της μετανάστευσης καταλήγει –σχεδόν μονότονα– στο ίδιο συμπέρασμα. Η διεθνής μετανάστευση ωφελεί τους πάντες: τις χώρες προέλευσης, τις χώρες προορισμού, τους ίδιους τους μετανάστες. Οι εκκλήσεις για περιορισμό της μοιάζει να προδίδουν άγνοια συνδυασμένη με φόβο.
Υπάρχει όμως και κάτι άλλο: στις πλούσιες χώρες οι πολίτες κάνουν λίγα παιδιά και ζουν πολλά χρόνια. Ο πληθυσμός τους γερνάει και σύντομα θ’ αρχίσει να συρρικνώνεται. Την ίδια στιγμή, η δεξαμενή των μεταναστών, που ακόμα φαντάζει ανεξάντλητη, θ’ αρχίσει γρήγορα να στερεύει. Η έλευση μεταναστών σήμερα αντιμετωπίζεται ως πρόβλημα. Αύριο θα γίνει το ζητούμενο. Και, ως συνήθως, κερδισμένες θα βγουν οι κοινωνίες που ήξεραν να προνοούν...
672 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2010
18 people are currently reading
694 people want to read
About the author
Ian Goldin
38 books68 followersIan Goldin is a professor at the University of Oxford in England. He took up his most recent position as director of Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, in September 2006. He is the Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development, and holds a professorial fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 10, 2015
As a lawyer representing immigrants for the last 20 or so years, this book holds great interest for me. The book touches a deeply felt feeling that people do not currently enjoy a basic human right to freedom of movement. There is so much suffering and lost human potential in the world when those who aspire to improve their own lives or those of family members is thwarted, when young people who are intelligent and motivated cannot do so because they live in a war zone, or when women who seek an education or independence cannot do so because they live in a controlling, abusive relationship or in a society which does not allow them to have full lives. And further suffering when families are separated, striving immigrants unable to go home to see their children or care for an aging parent, when the immigrant cannot move forward with his/her life because of undocumented status. I want very much to embrace the conclusions of this book that we would all be better off -- individuals, and sending and receiving countries -- if we moved toward a system of open borders throughout the world.
The book, however, though persuasive, is limited. It seems clearly an example of social science carried out to "prove" the conclusion the author began with. The economic costs and benefits of immigration have been hotly debated and many many studies have been produced, many of which contradict each other. This book dismisses all studies which do not fit with its thesis, and fails to provide any real discussion or analysis of those studies. This is just one example, but in many areas, the books discussion would have been deepened by entertaining opposing viewpoints more seriously.
That said, I tend to agree with the direction of the books thesis, that the world is already inter global, and will only become more so. That we have failed to date to bring policies about movement of people in line with policies about movement of goods and information. Allowing far greater movement of people is absolutely a good thing, and the book details many good reasons for this conclusion. I was particularly interested in the outline of the history of immigration from the beginning of human existence. I continue to question whether the world would really be better off with truly open borders at this point, and the authors methods do not allow me to trust its conclusions sufficiently because of the bias of analysis so pervasive throughout the book.
The book, however, though persuasive, is limited. It seems clearly an example of social science carried out to "prove" the conclusion the author began with. The economic costs and benefits of immigration have been hotly debated and many many studies have been produced, many of which contradict each other. This book dismisses all studies which do not fit with its thesis, and fails to provide any real discussion or analysis of those studies. This is just one example, but in many areas, the books discussion would have been deepened by entertaining opposing viewpoints more seriously.
That said, I tend to agree with the direction of the books thesis, that the world is already inter global, and will only become more so. That we have failed to date to bring policies about movement of people in line with policies about movement of goods and information. Allowing far greater movement of people is absolutely a good thing, and the book details many good reasons for this conclusion. I was particularly interested in the outline of the history of immigration from the beginning of human existence. I continue to question whether the world would really be better off with truly open borders at this point, and the authors methods do not allow me to trust its conclusions sufficiently because of the bias of analysis so pervasive throughout the book.
September 8, 2015
In a recent interview, Ian Goldin said (and I am paraphrasing) that if he was ever made dictator of the world for one day he would prohibit people who don't believe in globalization from consuming or using any product that was produced in a foreign country or was made from raw materials that have come from other countries. These people will be so miserable. They will not be able to use cell phones, cars, etc... Well, you get the point.
In this book, the authors lay down the case that immigration is good for the sending countries, it's good for the receiving countries, it's good for the migrant and it's good for the world in general. The authors provide plenty of empirical evidence to back this argument. To state a few:
1.According to data from the World Bank, migrants send back home over $350 billion a year, a sum much greater than all world aid granted to developing nations.
2. A big part of this money goes to education for the next generation, which helps grow the economy over the long run.
3. At an aggregate level, immigration stimulates the economy of receiving countries because low skilled foreign workers often take the jobs that are not wanted by native workers. Furthermore, by taking these jobs, business are able to offer services at a lower price which every consumer benefits from. According to the authors, "in the late 1980s and 1990s U.S. cities that had high levels of immigration saw reductions in the costs of housekeeping, gardening, child care, dry cleaning, and other labor intensive services." (p.167).
4. A common fallacy is that foreign workers rely on social benefits and therefore are a drag on taxpayers and the economy in general. According to the authors this is just not true: "Research based on data from 2004 to 2008 on the net fiscal impact of the immigration of Polish, Czech, and other migrants to the UK from ten countries that joined the European Union in 2004 showed that the migrants contributed 'significantly' more in taxes than they received in benefits and services." (p.170).
5. Highly skilled foreign workers also contribute by starting new businesses and creating new jobs. Migrants have founded Google, Intel, PayPal, eBay and Yahoo. Moreover, migrants account for around 25% of all global patent applications from the United States.
This book couldn't have been published at a better time when governments all over the world have been implementing stricter and stricter rules against immigration due to the financial crisis. Hopefully, policy-makers will read this book and implement some of its ideas.
In conclusion, this book is well argued and researched. It has plenty of interesting statistics and profound ideas that will be greatly appreciated by people interested in such topics. Highly recommended.
In this book, the authors lay down the case that immigration is good for the sending countries, it's good for the receiving countries, it's good for the migrant and it's good for the world in general. The authors provide plenty of empirical evidence to back this argument. To state a few:
1.According to data from the World Bank, migrants send back home over $350 billion a year, a sum much greater than all world aid granted to developing nations.
2. A big part of this money goes to education for the next generation, which helps grow the economy over the long run.
3. At an aggregate level, immigration stimulates the economy of receiving countries because low skilled foreign workers often take the jobs that are not wanted by native workers. Furthermore, by taking these jobs, business are able to offer services at a lower price which every consumer benefits from. According to the authors, "in the late 1980s and 1990s U.S. cities that had high levels of immigration saw reductions in the costs of housekeeping, gardening, child care, dry cleaning, and other labor intensive services." (p.167).
4. A common fallacy is that foreign workers rely on social benefits and therefore are a drag on taxpayers and the economy in general. According to the authors this is just not true: "Research based on data from 2004 to 2008 on the net fiscal impact of the immigration of Polish, Czech, and other migrants to the UK from ten countries that joined the European Union in 2004 showed that the migrants contributed 'significantly' more in taxes than they received in benefits and services." (p.170).
5. Highly skilled foreign workers also contribute by starting new businesses and creating new jobs. Migrants have founded Google, Intel, PayPal, eBay and Yahoo. Moreover, migrants account for around 25% of all global patent applications from the United States.
This book couldn't have been published at a better time when governments all over the world have been implementing stricter and stricter rules against immigration due to the financial crisis. Hopefully, policy-makers will read this book and implement some of its ideas.
In conclusion, this book is well argued and researched. It has plenty of interesting statistics and profound ideas that will be greatly appreciated by people interested in such topics. Highly recommended.
November 15, 2014
This is very academic book, filled to the brim with numbers & conclusions of what must be over 1000 papers. The message is towards the end of the final chapter, which is the claim that an open-borders strategy is a short-term-pain, long-term-gain that requires global governance to supersede the political realities of individual states. To prove that point, written is fact after fact after fact, most of which is essentially statistical significance studies. The hope is that by pounding you with study after study, declarative statement after declarative statement, you are pummeled into agreement.
The lack of stars is mainly for this approach, which means that the message will only be heard by those who already agree. No one who advocates for a closed border will believe any of these statements, largely because of a healthy distrust for conclusions gleaned from what is at best shoddy statistics. Some of the story models make sense (for example the positive benefits of remittances) but relying on the age argument is a really tenuous stance. Saying that an aging population and low fertility will provide issues is extremely reductionist. Fertility rates are quite variable so extrapolating present fertility figures is an exercise in bad statistics. In addition, there is almost zero acknowledgement of the ability of productivity (the one thing that is guaranteed to increase) to supply the minimum levels of sustenance for everyone.
This is the main problem with the book. The story is "I claim this, here is my reference, shove it." There is a serious lack of examination of those references. For example, does a population that is elderly-heavy continue to do so for 100 years? If not, how does that change the model? What is the probability of that? How do the stats change when X or Y or Z happens? Because they are trying to overfill you with facts, they do not cover with any depth at all any of the critical assumptions they use. I know what the criticism would be from their side: "I gave you facts, just the facts, why are you complaining?" I'm complaining because they are not facts, they are statistical conclusions. Without a reasonable, relatively robust model behind those conclusions, they are pointless.
There is a great claim in this book, a claim that I think is good. However, this book is really for douchebags who want to feel good that their biases are righteous. You can find that on either the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report based on your preference; there's no reason to read this instead.
The lack of stars is mainly for this approach, which means that the message will only be heard by those who already agree. No one who advocates for a closed border will believe any of these statements, largely because of a healthy distrust for conclusions gleaned from what is at best shoddy statistics. Some of the story models make sense (for example the positive benefits of remittances) but relying on the age argument is a really tenuous stance. Saying that an aging population and low fertility will provide issues is extremely reductionist. Fertility rates are quite variable so extrapolating present fertility figures is an exercise in bad statistics. In addition, there is almost zero acknowledgement of the ability of productivity (the one thing that is guaranteed to increase) to supply the minimum levels of sustenance for everyone.
This is the main problem with the book. The story is "I claim this, here is my reference, shove it." There is a serious lack of examination of those references. For example, does a population that is elderly-heavy continue to do so for 100 years? If not, how does that change the model? What is the probability of that? How do the stats change when X or Y or Z happens? Because they are trying to overfill you with facts, they do not cover with any depth at all any of the critical assumptions they use. I know what the criticism would be from their side: "I gave you facts, just the facts, why are you complaining?" I'm complaining because they are not facts, they are statistical conclusions. Without a reasonable, relatively robust model behind those conclusions, they are pointless.
There is a great claim in this book, a claim that I think is good. However, this book is really for douchebags who want to feel good that their biases are righteous. You can find that on either the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report based on your preference; there's no reason to read this instead.
March 11, 2012
The title is slightly misleading - this is about Migration.
The author covers 3 parts, the distant history, current, and future probably trends, or at least what the author would like to see.
I was somewhat surprised by recent history, where very big numbers involved the Turks and Greece etc, but History was not my pet subject when I was at school. So that was good. The Author makes comparisons worldwide, and not time bound, drawing parallels to make a point.
The following six interrelated factors are put in evidence:
1. Persistent inter-country inequality and wage disparities;
2. Economic growth in the poorest countries;
3. Rural displacement and urbanization;
4. Rising education standards in developing countries;
5. Growing working-age populations in developing countries;
6. Environmental stress.
I get the feeling that he concentrates much on the macro level, and somewhat skips over the micro - cultural resistance, which then leads him to state that "we" must do this and that (fight xenophobia for example)
Clearly,over the next 50 years or so, the quoted previous factor of economic disparity of about 1 to 5 or 10, some 200 years ago between countries, and now 1 to 400 will decrease, partly through the lowering of barriers to migration (Internet info, travel costs etc) and that is quite worthy in itself.
One wonders if given the ageing population in the west, and desirability to migrate today, whether the window of opportunity will remain, if the west remains on it's present tack of restricting migration as it does today.
If the west does not do something fairly quickly, it may be left out! and suffer substantially as a consequence.
One does not eradicate xenophobia that quickly in a population that has been fed on "fear" over decades.
The author covers 3 parts, the distant history, current, and future probably trends, or at least what the author would like to see.
I was somewhat surprised by recent history, where very big numbers involved the Turks and Greece etc, but History was not my pet subject when I was at school. So that was good. The Author makes comparisons worldwide, and not time bound, drawing parallels to make a point.
The following six interrelated factors are put in evidence:
1. Persistent inter-country inequality and wage disparities;
2. Economic growth in the poorest countries;
3. Rural displacement and urbanization;
4. Rising education standards in developing countries;
5. Growing working-age populations in developing countries;
6. Environmental stress.
I get the feeling that he concentrates much on the macro level, and somewhat skips over the micro - cultural resistance, which then leads him to state that "we" must do this and that (fight xenophobia for example)
Clearly,over the next 50 years or so, the quoted previous factor of economic disparity of about 1 to 5 or 10, some 200 years ago between countries, and now 1 to 400 will decrease, partly through the lowering of barriers to migration (Internet info, travel costs etc) and that is quite worthy in itself.
One wonders if given the ageing population in the west, and desirability to migrate today, whether the window of opportunity will remain, if the west remains on it's present tack of restricting migration as it does today.
If the west does not do something fairly quickly, it may be left out! and suffer substantially as a consequence.
One does not eradicate xenophobia that quickly in a population that has been fed on "fear" over decades.
November 7, 2011
A very insightful book with great information about the impact of migration around the world. The book is broadly separated into three major sections: past, present and future. The past is an overview of patterns of human migration, adopting evidence from the most recent genetic research to show the proposed movement patters that settled to world. It moves through prehistory into post-WW2 re-embrace of migration. The present section focusses on the policys and impacts of current migration. It is a very useful overview of current migration patterns and dispels many of the false worries that are associated with these movements. It also takes time to appreciate the impacts of migration at the personal, familial, economic and social levels. The final section, the future, is essentially a proposal for reconsideration of what is needed to support migration in the contemporary, global world.
June 9, 2018
It helps you understand how migration was and is important for our world. The first chapters show the history of migration and it is clear how migration is intrinsec to us, human. It's book was written in 2011, but it could predict Brexit. The benefits of migration will be seen in a long run, so the benefits are beyond a politician mandate. Then, we see that britains, americans and all the world don't understand how open borders can help our world.
May 26, 2017
This is a 2011 book by three foreign policy/international organization policy scholars associated with Oxford and Cambridge. I had not gotten around to reading this earlier but my interest was raised again after I read "Exit West" - Mohsin Hamid's new novel about the experiences of refugees from the eastern Mediterranean conflicts.
The intent here is ambitious - to link all that we generally know about migrations over history and use such a survey to draw conclusions for current debates on refugee and immigration that have flared in the years since the 9/11 attacks. Of course with the expanded devastation due to the Syrian Civil war, along with the growth of ISIS, these issues have become even more salient. The authors use lots of data and carefully assemble their arguments to present a reasonable policy agenda that makes use of what we know of the economic impacts if immigration and tries to suggest moderate approaches to the political hot buttons that litter this policy area. The book certainly does not anticipate the hyperpoliticizing of immigration in the last few years.
Overall, the book is informative and I grant the authors credit for making a good try. While informative and useful, there are issues with this effort.
To start with, immigration and migration look very different in different historical periods and it is not clear to me what is gained by a global mapping of genetic linkages to chart the migration of humans out of Africa. Then the arguments move into a more modern period but combine slave and no slave migrations, commercial migrations (such as to build US railroads), and populations associated with colonialization and imperialism. Then we go through the 20th century and two world wars followed by the Cold War. It is all interesting but not clearly tied to modern migration problems Of course there are holdovers, but the nature of the conflicts has morphed and the abilities of states and NGOs to deal with migrations have changed with technology and politics. It is either a case of apples and oranges or a version of "I've looked at migration from all sides now ....". It is the overall story that is missing -- without such a story, this is what you can look up on Google or Google Scholar.
The analysis and theory that is provided is not entirely satisfying either. This is an example of a broad framework into which migration data can be placed to order. The theory as often as not comes from the correlations that one gets by working over the data. The logic for modeling this beyond correlations is at best basic. That is OK, especially given the complexity of the general phenomenon of global population flows. This is informative and I am glad I worked through it. My problem is more that the intent of the exercise is far in excess of the accomplishment. It is still useful as a reference to put current refugee and immigration discussions in context.
The intent here is ambitious - to link all that we generally know about migrations over history and use such a survey to draw conclusions for current debates on refugee and immigration that have flared in the years since the 9/11 attacks. Of course with the expanded devastation due to the Syrian Civil war, along with the growth of ISIS, these issues have become even more salient. The authors use lots of data and carefully assemble their arguments to present a reasonable policy agenda that makes use of what we know of the economic impacts if immigration and tries to suggest moderate approaches to the political hot buttons that litter this policy area. The book certainly does not anticipate the hyperpoliticizing of immigration in the last few years.
Overall, the book is informative and I grant the authors credit for making a good try. While informative and useful, there are issues with this effort.
To start with, immigration and migration look very different in different historical periods and it is not clear to me what is gained by a global mapping of genetic linkages to chart the migration of humans out of Africa. Then the arguments move into a more modern period but combine slave and no slave migrations, commercial migrations (such as to build US railroads), and populations associated with colonialization and imperialism. Then we go through the 20th century and two world wars followed by the Cold War. It is all interesting but not clearly tied to modern migration problems Of course there are holdovers, but the nature of the conflicts has morphed and the abilities of states and NGOs to deal with migrations have changed with technology and politics. It is either a case of apples and oranges or a version of "I've looked at migration from all sides now ....". It is the overall story that is missing -- without such a story, this is what you can look up on Google or Google Scholar.
The analysis and theory that is provided is not entirely satisfying either. This is an example of a broad framework into which migration data can be placed to order. The theory as often as not comes from the correlations that one gets by working over the data. The logic for modeling this beyond correlations is at best basic. That is OK, especially given the complexity of the general phenomenon of global population flows. This is informative and I am glad I worked through it. My problem is more that the intent of the exercise is far in excess of the accomplishment. It is still useful as a reference to put current refugee and immigration discussions in context.
June 16, 2023
Ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο που αποδεικνύει ότι η μετανάστευση δεν είναι πρόβλημα, αλλά είναι κομμάτι της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης. Όποιος θέλει πραγματικά να καταλάβει τα αίτια που την γεννούν, τις ευκαιρίες και τα προβλήματά της, και θέλει να εξοπλιστεί με επιχειρήματα για να αντιμετωπίζει ξενοφοβικές και ρατσιστικές συμπεριφορές, προτείνω να τρέξει να το αγοράσει.
January 15, 2022
Σπουδαίο βιβλίο !!
April 30, 2013
Exceptional People is an exceptional overview of migration trends and issues throughout history. It's biggest weakness: it reads like a textbook. It's greatest strength: comprehensive analysis of historic and current trends in migration. If you want to understand the issues surrounding mirgration--whether regular or irregular, forced or volitional--this book will provide you with a solid foundation for engaging the issues from a much more nuanced perspective.
September 8, 2015
A really informative read, with a lot of references to back up what he says, and important data to look at. It feels as if you are reading a really long thesis project, but with good data and relevant information.
The downside is that is it extremely boring, and lose your way while reading.
Overall the book shows the existing evidence that backs up his main idea, that migration is good for all parties involved, sending and receiving countries as well as migrants.
The downside is that is it extremely boring, and lose your way while reading.
Overall the book shows the existing evidence that backs up his main idea, that migration is good for all parties involved, sending and receiving countries as well as migrants.
June 28, 2011
A compelling case for reopening national borders--for both economic and moral reasons.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews