Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Skrbis, Zlatko
• Baldassar, Loretta V

Titel

Migrant Generations and Complexities of Belonging

Ist Teil von

• International Sociological Association, 2008

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The question of generations represents a locus classicus in sociology scholarship (Mannheim) & there is also a large body of research on generations in sociology of migration. In the context of the latter, attention is primarily given to the second generation. There are three reasons for this tendency: the second generation plays a strategic role in linking the migrant generation with the new host society environment; it represents a convenient tool for understanding long-term effects of migration, both in terms of personal experiences & the impact on host society institutions; finally, the focus on the second generation is often pragmatically justified in terms of the host country's responsiveness to the immediate day-to-day needs of the most vulnerable categories of migrants. The objective of this paper is to problematise the value of the category of generation in the process of migration and considers ways in which the notion of generation intersects with different waves of migratory flows. We highlight the contradictory interpretations of the notion of generation where on the one hand, it provides a vehicle for the continuation of ethnicity into the future by reinforcing the category of migrant (e.g. second generation Greek as opposed to first generation Australian; c.f. Bottomley 1991). On the other, the notion of generation can imply a relatively predictable trajectory of integration (e.g. straight line theory). Drawing on a range of case studies, we attempt to interrogate whether the notion of generation obfuscates alternative trajectories of belonging, particularly in light of factors such as international politics, class, globalization, diaspora relations and social policy of the host country. In conclusion, we debate the relative merit of alternative constructs such as cosmopolitan and transnational identities.