Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T15:21:19.240Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - A Fair and Orderly International Migration Process Requires a Global Social Contract

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Andrés Solimano
Affiliation:
International Center for Globalization and Development, Santiago, Chile
Get access

Summary

As we mentioned at the outset of the book, international migration evokes emotional responses from many corners. However, the international flow of people is a reality, and the current pace of immigration to OECD countries, perhaps slowing down because of the consequences of the financial crisis and economic slump of 2008–09, is unlikely to be abated in the medium run despite the restrictive immigration policies in place across advanced economies and the irregular nature of part of these flows. A critical need is to shape a global social contract that provides a framework for managing international migration. We have to move beyond defining immigration polices only as a domestic issue, formulated only on a national basis, and treating migration as an international issue, one in which the interests of all players are at stake – the migrants, the governments, employers associations, labor unions and civil society organizations in origin countries and destination nations. It is increasingly clear that immigration is an integral part of global economic relations that include the mobility of goods, money, capital, and people. But while the current globalization process is perhaps obsessed with objects (goods, capital, technology, and money), it casts aside those who should be at the center of a more humane economic system – people themselves. Moreover, migration policies must be treated not just as a legal issue of entry and exit of people; they must also endeavor to capture the broader developmental context of a world in which large income disparities and developmental gaps create powerful incentives for migration toward wealthy countries.

Type
Chapter
Information
International Migration in the Age of Crisis and Globalization
Historical and Recent Experiences
, pp. 190 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×