Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on its Determinants and Modes of Incorporation

Abstract

This article reviews conventional theories about different aspects of labor migration: its origins, stability over time, and patterns of migrant settlement. For each of these aspects, the authors provide alternative explanatory hypotheses derived from the notions of increasing articulation of the international system and the social embeddedness of its various subprocesses, including labor flows. A typology of sources and outcomes of contemporary immigration is presented as a heuristic device to organize the diversity of such movements as described in the empirical literature.

Crossing Borders: Review of Concepts and Approaches in Research on Greenspace, Immigration and Society in Northwest European Countries

“…Kloek et al 130 they have produced the majority of the publications. Furthermore, in these countries research has been carried out within all of the three themes, and these countries differ regarding the political and social climate concerning immigration (or the 'contexts of reception'; Portes & Bo¨ro¨cz, 1989). A first difference is in the number of studies.…”

“…Differences in research traditions can be linked to differences between host countries in conceptualisations of immigrants and 'contexts of reception'. In the UK, migrants face a relatively 'neutral context' (Portes & Bo¨ro¨cz, 1989) in which discrimination is high on the agenda. In comparison with the other example countries, immigrant communities are more encouraged to cherish their own minority ethnic identity.…”

A political economy approach to understanding the economic incorporation of Chinese sub-ethnic groups

“…Whether we are referring to the shameful slave trade of the past or the much promoted business immigration programs of the present, south-north migration has been guided by the initiatives of the states at the centre of the international economy and the changing interests of tile dominant classes in advanced countries (Portes & B6r6cz, 1989). In the complex international political economy, there exists a symbiotic relationship between immigration and the international movement of capital, technology, institutional forms, and cultural innovations.…”

Of Flights and Flotillas: Assimilation and Race in the Cuban Diaspora

“…Whiteémigré cohorts were also more likely to have a professional occupation and less likely to hold laborer positions relative to nonwhite arrivals. As suggested by Portes and Böröcz (1989), highly skilled immigrants may find themselves in handicapped contexts that come about when they are subject to discrimination because of racial characteristics. Moreover, whereas modest improvements in educational attainment were noted among white Cubans between 1990 and 2000, educational attainment among nonwhites improved marginally or remained the same over this ten-year period.…”