Assimilation, ethnic pluralism, and transnationalism for immigrants
Question 1
Describe the differences and similarities between assimilation, ethnic pluralism, and transnationalism for immigrants. Which do you think is the best way for immigrants to adapt to the host society, and why?
Assimilation refers to the process that minority immigrant communities use to integrate into the culture and way of life of the host society. The system of cultural absorption has several advantages and disadvantages. For example, immigrants who culturally assimilate have an easy time in social acceptance and upward socio-economic mobility. However, cultural assimilation has adverse psychological consequences. The first generation of immigrants finds it difficult to detach themselves from their relatives in their country of origin. However, future generations overcome this problem and become part and parcel of the dominant culture. One of the best indicators of cultural assimilation is a language that second and third generations of immigrants learn from when they are young. Even under such circumstances, some aspects of the ethnic identity, such as food, clothing, and festivities, is not lost.
However, most societies have shifted from using assimilation as a tool for handling immigrants to multicultural and transnationalism ideologies. Ethnic pluralism refers to the system where each group has an identity and pursues its interests in the host country. The United States is such a society where all minority communities continue their economic, social, and political benefits in the host country. As a result, these societies do not require immigrants to integrate into American culture. However, they retain their cultural identities and pursue their interests in the host nation. Eventually, this would appear to be the most positive approach to handle immigrants.
Transnationalism refers to the combination of multiple civic and political memberships, economic involvements, social networks, and cultural identities that link people in two or more nation-states. In most cases, international migrants are the main conveyors of the cross-border connections. It is these communities that are creating the “new international space” that they create to de-terrorize the world. Throughout the history of immigration, bi-national identities endure as all immigrants maintain contact with their relatives in their countries of origin. Therefore, it is not a new concept, although the globalization of the world has made it easy for the idea to come to the forefront. Even early European immigrants to America maintained contact with their families. They also explained their experiences about living and working conditions, wages, and other matters through letters. The enormous amount of resources that flowed into southern and Eastern Europe during the peak years of overseas migration provides evidence that immigrants to the United States continued to fulfill their social obligations as members of their village communities and managers of their family farms. The same trend continues to date as new immigrants maintain relationships with their families in their home countries.
Assimilation, transnationalism, and ethnic pluralism are some of the responses that host societies have expected immigrant communities to follow. Although new migrant communities can assimilate to the dominant communities, they maintain contact with their relatives in their country of origin. However, their second and third generations quickly integrate into the majority community while retaining some aspects of their former nation’s ideals. Although assimilation has some advantages, it appears that transnationalism and ethnic pluralism are the best approaches for immigrants. Each ethnic community has its unique needs and experiences in a multiethnic society such as the United States. Therefore, ethnic groups need to pursue their interests while at the same time, maintaining essential aspects of their culture. Although the first generation of immigrants maintains close contact with their relatives in their country, the second and subsequent generations lose touch with them and associate with them for historical connections only. Therefore, ethnic pluralism is the best relationship that migrant communities can have with their host country because they will be concentrating on their interests in their nation country.
Question 2
Do the benefits of migration outweigh the costs of movement for women? In other words, do women have more to gain or more to lose from migration (for instance, compared to men)? You can think about this issue in terms of the causes of the movement, the relative difficulty/ease of migrating for women, the occupational and economic status of women migrants in the host society, or the impact of immigration on women’s gender and social status within the family/household.
Like their male counterparts, women immigrate to seek better opportunities abroad. The forces of globalization are increasing the demand for cheap female laborers in all regions of the world. As a result, they travel to move from one part of the world to another. Most women who are moving abroad today are doing so as autonomous workers and not as appendages to their husbands or other male relatives. Although men have always worked overseas to support their families, women are now doing the same with mixed consequences. Some forms of immigration are disadvantageous to women, while others have advantages.
In some countries, criminal enterprises are creating demands for women immigrants. However, they hurt the women that they lure to this lifestyle than to men. As a result, women suffer negative consequences after getting to foreign nations through deceit. For example, the “sex industry” in Japan is a source of international criminal networks that create demand for migrant women. Most women enter Japan legally as “entertainers” from Thailand, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, but many others enter illegally. The majority of women come to their destinations as victims of human trafficking and irregular migration. As a result, many women who immigrate to some developed nations arrive
In most cases, women have to weigh the gains against the costs of immigration. In some countries, immigration is essential for the economy. When they enter the labor market, they increase productivity in the marketplace and raise the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. When the economy thrives, the workers gain more and can support their families in their countries of origin. Since the majority of the women migrants prefer temporal movements, they gain economic power that they use to help their families. After their vacation abroad, they return home to their families expecting to live a better lifestyle than they did not before they immigration abroad. In ideal situations, they achieve these objectives, which is the dream of all immigrants. Where possible, the immigrants help their relatives settle with them in the host countries.
Today, more women are immigrating to other regions of the world because they find work faster than their male counterparts. As a result, the movement of labor involves large proportions of women than men. More women are also moving into new markets because of the changes in the economy that has more service jobs. Most of these jobs fit women and, therefore, their skills are in high demand. However, they face the same challenges as their male counterparts as far as the enjoyment of human rights is concerned. Although they have the freedom from unlawful acts, torture, persecution, and violent acts by the host government, they still suffer mistreatments. Although workers have these rights, they suffer in the hands of their employers, especially illegal immigrants.
Thus, the number of women migrating from their home countries is increasing as that of men reduces. One of the reasons for the change of fortune is the reform in the global economy that now relies on service industries that the majority of employers think that women can handle them better. However, women have a more difficult decision to make when deciding when to move abroad. It is difficult for married women to leave their families in their home countries and go to other nations to work. In some instances, women fall victim to international criminal rackets that sell them to prostitution or domestic work without pay. Although immigration to other regions of the world may help women advance economically, women have to consider the social losses they are likely to suffer before making the decision.