Intersectionality and International Migrations: Rethinking Globalization and Social Inequalities. VII South-South Institute Bangkok, 3-8 November, Gioconda Herrera FLACSO-Ecuador

 Migration and Globalization  Migration and Development  Migration and Social Inequalities: Intersectional approach  Migration and Citizenship

I –International Migration and Globalization Migration has become more global, more diverse, feminized and politicized.  More and more countries are sending and receiving migrants at de same time, in spite of restrictive policies all over the world.  Labor Migration has a long history, it is part and parcel of colonialism and capitalist accumulation. But transcontinental migration is easier nowadays because of major changes in communications and transportation. Major impact on social life.  Nowadays South –South migration is as important as South North migration. We should start looking also at North-South migration.

Migration and Globalization UN (2013) “More people than ever are living abroad”  In 2013, 232 million people, or 3.2 per cent of the world’s population, were international migrants, compared with 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in  The North is home to 136 million international migrants, compared to 96 million in the South.  Most international migrants are of working age (20 to 64 years) and account for 74 per cent of the total.  Women account for 48 per cent of all international migrants.

International migration is more and more diverse The myth of the “poor” 1.Labor migration 2.Forced migration (political, environmental) 3.Skilled migration: “brain drain” brain circulation. 4.Other exclusions: gender violence, social violence, sexual violence, cultural discrimination. 5.Smuggling and trafficking.

The Feminization of Migration:A matter of numbers or a matter of social relations? 1.Women as independent migrants 2.Women as part of global chains of care: transnationalization of social reproduction 3.Women and transnational families 4.Women as non migrant but part of migration experience.

International Migration and Politics Part of domestic politics :xenofobia. (North and South). Pro Migrant Rights discourse is not very popular (electoral) discourse. Resistance: Global migrant social movements and Human Rights. Role of states?

II - Migration and Development  Money sent home by migrants worldwide increased from US$102 billion in 1995 to an estimated US$232 billion in  › The share of global remittances going to developing countries has also increased, from 57 per cent in 1995 (US$58 billion) to 72 per cent in 2005 (US$167 billion).  › The top 20 recipient countries accounted for 66 per cent of world remittances in Only eight of them are developed countries. One third of global remittances went to only three countries: in order of total money received, these were India, China, Mexico.  › Remittances constituted a high share of gross domestic product in only two of the major recipients: the Philippines, and Serbia and Montenegro. Most of the 20 countries where remittances accounted for at least a tenth of GDP are small developing economies.

The Myth of Remittances 1.1. Contributions of migrants in countries of destination more important than contributions to their countries of origin. 2.Migrants as “actors” of development in the absence of the state. 3.Paradoxes of migration experience: Empowerment and Exclusion.

Migration and Social Inequalities  Structural perspective “Migrants are cheap labour merchandise, disposable population that contributes to the dynamics of accumulation. Extractivism is therefore also present in the stance taken by receiving nations: The more vulnerable migrants are, the more their employers benefit; their social exclusion leads to increased profits and fiscal gains for both employers and host governments”. (Delgado-Wise)

Intersectionality, Social Inequalities and Migration A n intersectional approach looks at interlocking systems of oppression as constitutive of migration systems. Interconnections between different dimensions of inequality; that is, to capture the multidimensionality of social inequality. To overcome the focus on the nationalities of migrant groups and rather look at the intersection of race, class, and gender, in order to understand internal group differences, as well as the hierarchies and relations of power that emerge in the interaction between migrant and non migrant groups, within and beyond states in transnational fields

III- Migration and Citizenship The Myth of “Migration Management”  A ‘good migrant’, regardless of his or her status and conditions, is respectful of the law, flexible to market needs, and eager to contribute to the development of his country of origin;  Irregular migration is regarded as a problem generated outside the migrant-receiving country, ignoring its internal motivations (corporate demand for cheap and flexible labour) and the role of the state in spawning ‘illegality’ through limiting channels for ‘legal’ entrance far beyond actual labour and demographic needs.  Transit countries should prevent irregular migration flows to destination countries through the reinforcement of border control activities and counter-smuggling and trafficking efforts.

Main Challenges ….  How to rethink Citizenship? The place where one is born determine the future as much as gender, class, race. (education, employment, rights, etc…) Importance of the nation state?  The migrant condition as marker of social exclusion, such as race, class, gender….  Migration as Mobility Capital?  Global citizenship. A new Myth?