This thesis is a study of colonialism and the university, and the relationship between knowledge, imperialism, empire and domination. It is influenced by those who have written on and lived through decolonisation, principally, Sylvia Wynter. The first chapter examines the history of the Westernised university as a Eurocentric narrative. It also considers the evolution of the discipline of the humanities as an imperial science of the human. The second chapter reflects on the effect of an imperial education on an individual’s relationship with their communities. Reading texts written during and after anti-colonial struggle, I consider how writing begins the process of communitarian ethical repair. Chapter 3 explores what it means to be included in the imperial university, and the cost of assimilation. The chapter focuses on texts from ‘outsiders’ to Oxford University who write back to an imperial centre. Chapter 4 revisits Wynter’s analysis of the Westernised institution in the context of 1968 Jamaica to reflect on the Westernised university’s internationalisation agenda. The chapter looks at the history of educational institutions in settler colonial plantations. The fifth chapter examines the evolution of the Westernised university as a site and agent of border control. It reviews the Tier 4 visa regime and Prevent legislation, examining the colonial history of the university as border control. In turning to the work of writer Leila Aboulela, the chapter explores how the creative imagination interprets the university, border control, race and emergent authoritarianism. The conclusion to this thesis is a dystopian short story. The narrative follows the journey of an international student at the University of Glasgow in 2050. Lecturers and books have been abolished. The violent collusion between university and state forces the protagonist into a choice. This thesis is intended as a sustained reflection on participation in Westernised higher education. The decision to conclude with a dilemma is a strategic one.

This thesis combines two burgeoning fields – New Institutionalism and migration studies – to explain the process of institutional change. It tests six hypotheses drawn from a hybrid theoretical framework drawn from Historical Institutionalism, Rational Choice Institutionalism, and Sociological Institutionalism, identifying concrete mechanisms of reproduction and sources of endogenous and exogenous change. It applies this framework to changes in access to citizenship in the form of citizenship and naturalisation policy in the United Kingdom and Germany between 2000 and 2010. Its greatest contributions lie in a more comprehensive explanation of endogenous factors and incremental changes, two aspects of institutional change that have received inadequate theoretical attention and empirical investigation. Testing economic, power-based, and ideational explanations for change, it concludes that each of the New Institutionalisms makes an important contribution to a complete understanding of the process of change and the dynamics of this policy area in two very different European countries.

This thesis contributes to and extends two well-established traditions in sociology: firstly, it uses a biographical approach to study the experience of international migration; and secondly, it generates theory from the lived texture of individual lives. Specifically, the research uses the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) to describe, analyse and theorise the gendered experience of migration from ‘the rainbow nation’ of South Africa, to New Zealand, ‘the land of the long white cloud’. The thesis follows and further develops BNIM’s sociobiographic approach, integrating a stronger sociological focus, and emphasising the feminist values of transparency, reflexivity and an attention to power differences between the researcher and her interviewees. In-depth interviews based on a single narrative-seeking question are conducted with South African migrants from several divergent groups, and are then used as the foundation for a process of intensive researcher-led group analysis. From this meticulous analytical process the researcher produces three detailed individual case studies. It is argued that in order to comprehend the significance of broad social phenomena such as migration and gender, it is imperative to have an appreciation of their meaning in the context of individual lives. Noting the occurrence of migration-related disruption across each of the case studies, the thesis uses the concept of biographical disruption to generate an innovative analytic vocabulary and a model that together describe and represent the gendered biographical experience of international migration. The research also uses the analytic language and the model to illustrate the impact of migration on the gender dynamics of migrants’ intimate relationships. It does this by considering one of the pivotal tensions through which gender dynamics are reconstructed in the context of migration, the tension between migrants’ productive and reproductive responsibilities. The language and the model theorise the resolution of this tension in a number of ways, thus extending the terms of the debate about the impact of migration on gender dynamics beyond the current binary conceptualisation of emancipation or subjugation. The utility of the language and the model in their depiction of the overall biographical experience of migration, and the illustration of the effect of migration on gender dynamics is demonstrated in the thesis through their application to each of the individual case studies.

This thesis investigates the reciprocal relationship between migration and development in Senegal. Therewith, it contributes to the debate as to whether migration in developing countries enhances or rather impedes the development process. Even though extensive and controversial discussions can be found in the scientific literature regarding the impact of migration on development, research has scarcely examined the feedback relationships between migration and development. Science however agrees with both the fact that migration affects development as well as that the level of development in a country determines migration behaviour. Thus, both variables are neither dependent nor independent, but endogenous variables influencing each other and producing behavioural pattern that cannot be investigated using a static and unidirectional approach. On account of this, the thesis studies the feedback mechanisms existing between migration and development and the behavioural pattern generated by the high interdependence in order to be able to draw conclusions concerning the impact of changes in migration behaviour on the development process. To explore these research questions, the study applies the computer simulation method ‘System Dynamics’ and amplifies the simulation model for national development planning called ‘Threshold 21’ (T21), representing development processes endogenously and integrating economic, social and environmental aspects, using a structure that portrays the reasons and consequences of migration. The model has been customised to Senegal, being an appropriate representative of the theoretical interesting universe of cases. The comparison of the model generated scenarios - in which the intensity of emigration, the loss and gain of education, the remittances or the level of dependence changes - facilitates the analysis. The present study produces two important results. The first outcome is the development of an integrative framework representing migration and development in an endogenous way and incorporating several aspects of different theories. This model can be used as a starting point for further discussions and improvements and it is a fairly relevant and useful result against the background that migration is not integrated into most of the development planning tools despite its significant impact. The second outcome is the gained insights concerning the feedback relations between migration and development and the impact of changes in migration on development. To give two examples: It could be found that migration impacts development positively, indicated by HDI, but that the dominant behaviour of migration and development is a counteracting behaviour. That means that an increase in emigration leads to an improvement in development, while this in turn causes a decline in emigration, counterbalancing the initial increase. Another insight concerns the discovery that migration causes a decline in education in the short term, but leads to an increase in the long term, after approximately 25 years - a typical worse-before-better behaviour. From these and further observations, important policy implications can be derived for the sending and receiving countries. Hence, by overcoming the unidirectional perspective, this study contributes to an improved understanding of the highly complex relationship between migration and development and their feedback relations. / Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht das wechselseitige Verhältnis zwischen Migration und Entwicklung im Senegal. Damit soll ein Beitrag zu der Debatte geleistet werden, ob Migration in Entwicklungsländern den Entwicklungsprozess eher fördert oder verhindert. Während die Frage nach der Auswirkung von Migration auf Entwicklung in der Literatur ausgiebig und kontrovers diskutiert wird, hat sich die Forschung bisher kaum den Rückkopplungen zwischen Migration und Entwicklung gewidmet, obwohl sich die Wissenschaft sowohl darüber einig ist, dass Migration den Entwicklungsprozess beeinflusst, als auch, dass der Entwicklungsstand eines Land das Migrationsverhalten bestimmt. Folglich sind beide Variablen weder abhängig, noch unabhängige, sondern endogene Variablen, die sich gegenseitig beeinflussen und damit Verhaltensweisen produzieren, deren Erforschung ein statischer, unidirektionaler Ansatz nicht gerecht wird. Deswegen fragt diese Arbeit nach den Rückwirkungsmechanismen, die zwischen Migration und Entwicklung existieren, und nach den Verhaltensweisen, die durch die hohe Interdependenz entstehen, um daraus Rückschlüsse auf die Frage ziehen zu können, welchen Einfluss Änderungen im Migrationsverhalten auf den Entwicklungsprozess haben. Um diese Forschungsfragen zu untersuchen wurde die Computersimulationsmethode System Dynamics genutzt und das Simulationsmodell zur nationalen Entwicklungsplanung, das ‚Threshold 21’ (T21), das die Entwicklungsprozesse endogen darstellt und soziale, ökonomische sowie ökologische Aspekte miteinander verknüpft, um eine Struktur erweitert, welche die Gründe und Konsequenzen von Migration abbildet. Dies wurde an den Senegal, ein angemessener Repräsentant der theoretisch interessanten Grundgesamtheit, angepasst. Der Vergleich der mit dem Modell generierten Szenarien, in denen die Intensität der Abwanderung, des Bildungsverlustes, des Bildungsgewinns, der Geldüberweisungen, oder der Abhängigkeit verändert wurden, ermöglichte die Analyse. Die Studie bringt zwei wichtige Ergebnisse hervor. Erstens entwickelt sie ein umfangreiches Modell, das Migration und Entwicklung endogen erklärt und verschiedene theoretische Ansatzpunkte enthält. Dies kann sowohl als Grundlage für weitere Diskussion und Verbesserungen genutzt werden, ist aber vor allem vor dem Hintergrund, dass Migration in den meisten Modellen zur Entwicklungsplanung trotz des relevanten Einflusses nicht integriert ist, ein wichtiges und nützliches Resultat. Zweitens konnte die Analyse des Verhaltens des Modells wichtige Erkenntnisse bezüglich der Rückwirkungsmechanismen zwischen Migration und Entwicklung und der Wirkung von Veränderungen in Migration auf Entwicklung erzielen. Um zwei Beispiele zu nennen, wurde herausgearbeitet, dass Migration sich positiv auf Entwicklung, gemessen am Human Development Index (HDI), auswirkt, dass es sich aber generell um ein sich ausgleichendes Verhalten handelt, da die positiven Einflüsse auf Entwicklung ihrerseits Migration verringern, wodurch die positiven Einflüsse wieder abnehmen. Ebenso konnte festgestellt werden, dass Migration für das Bildungsniveau zunächst eine Verschlechterung, später aber, nach ca. 25 Jahren, eine Verbesserung nach sich zieht. Aus diesen und weiteren Beobachtungen können wichtige Politikempfehlungen für die Sende- und Empfängerländer von Migration abgeleitet werden. Durch das Überwinden der unidirektionalen Betrachtungsweise trägt diese Arbeit somit zu einem besseren Verständnis des hoch komplexen und von Rückwirkungsmechanismen geprägten Verhältnisses zwischen Migration und Entwicklung bei.

Many people have migrated between East and West Europe in recent decades. The daily life of these migrants is crucial not only for the migrants themselves but also for the development of future migration. The aim of this thesis is to explore the interaction between migration motives, integration, social networks and migration, and how this affects international migration processes in general. This is done using migration between Sweden on the one hand and Russia, Poland and the Baltic States on the other as a case study. The thesis consists of three empirical studies which derive from different sources of data: the first (Paper I) draws on individual Swedish register data while the second and third are based upon a questionnaire survey. Paper I explores aspects of transnational social spaces in the context of migration from the non-Baltic former Soviet republics to Sweden before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The results of this paper show rather limited migration and a lack of a more developed transnational social space. This is partly due to weak integration on the labour market, a high degree of intermarriage, no existing migrant community and limited return migration. The following two papers (II, III) focus on migrants from Russia, Poland and the Baltic States to Sweden after 1990. Paper II analyses migration motives and the outcome of the migration decision, and reveals significant gender differences in the motives for migrating and in how men and women adapt in their new country of living. While men mainly came for economic reasons, the majority of women came for intermarriage in Sweden; however, the migration motives have changed over time towards more economic ones. The final paper (III) shows significant gender differences in the migrants’ perceived sense of belonging in Sweden. Women report a stronger sense of belonging than their male counterparts, and while men’s sense of belonging is mainly affected by duration of stay in Sweden, language proficiency and citizenship, women’s sense of belonging is shown to be mostly affected by local social networks. In sum, the results in this thesis show that migration systems and transnational social spaces between Sweden and the respective countries have not yet emerged. This is partly due to the specific migrant composition and integration that characterize this migration process. The immigrants mainly function as weak bridgeheads, and do not facilitate the development of any further migration. However, with a changing migration flow, including migrants with different motives and migration agendas, future migrants can be stronger bridgeheads and facilitate further development of migration systems and transnational social spaces.

The aim of the thesis is to analyze the reasons and consequences of international labor migration of women workers into Turkey. With the process of new global restructuring, transformations in production structure and labor organization, and rise of informal economy widen the gap between different geographies and generate a tied demand and supply relation between female labor and service sector. Today millions of women who suffer from poverty leave their countries in order to sell their labor in another country. Turkey has been a popular destination for women from post-Soviet countries since the 1980s. Many of them enter Turkey legally in accordance with Turkish visa requirements but become illegal by overstaying and working in country. Service sectors absorb this female labor, and many of them are employed as live-in domestic workers. This study aims to investigate how macro factors of international migration like global restructuring and transformations in the informal economy affects meso and micro structures. In this context, this study focuses on the formation of intermediary agencies and particularly individual migratory experiences of post-Soviet women in Ankara.

As a country that is highly affected by the changing nature of international migration due to transformative forces of globalization, Turkey is now being defined as a country of both immigration and emigration. This thesis analyzes Turkish state&rsquo / s international migration politics and policies with regard to recent global trends in migratory movements. It examines the underlying dynamics that govern the policy making processes and tries to identify the problems stemming from them. The primary goal of the thesis is to make an elaborate assessment of the existent institutional framework and to detect the presence of securitization paradigm in the political and legal setting of international migration in Turkey by means of qualitative research methods. It investigates how international pressures and trends, national interests, political considerations and especially the dynamics of fragmented institutional structure have affected policy making strategies. In view of these factors, the thesis suggests adopting a humanitarian approach towards refugees, asylum seekers and migrants that leaves political concerns behind and avoids securitization of the issue.

Why do international migrants send money home? What are the implications of these monetary flows for developing countries? Long debated by economists and sociologists, these questions have received very little attention in the political science literature. This dissertation argues, however, that remittances—money sent home or “remitted” by international migrants—have significant implications for the study of politics. My main contention is that international migrants assume a more significant welfare burden when their home government’s commitment to social insurance provision is in decline. Remittances, in other words, flow to compensate non-emigrating citizens for state retrenchment and the absence of a robust welfare state. I argue that this “transnational safety net” makes remittance recipients (RRs) less vulnerable to economic instability than neighbors who do not receive this money. All else equal, RRs should be more contented with their economic circumstances and have fewer economic grievances with which to politicize. The income-stabilizing and insurance effect of remittances, then, should reduce public pressure on the state, leaving RRs less motivated to mobilize against and punish incumbents for a poor economy when public safety nets are weak. Evidence comes from an original survey of 768 Mexican households, field interviews, and time-series data published by the Bank of Mexico. Statistical tests reveal that Mexicans abroad remit more to families that do not receive social benefits and send roughly $2.5 million more home for every $10 million reduction in spending on social programs by the Mexican government. Analyses furthermore reveal that despite being very poor on average, RRs tend to enjoy higher levels of income stability, are less likely to identify an economic matter as “the most important problem facing Mexico,” and make more positive and optimistic assessments of the national economy and their own financial circumstances. In the 2006 Mexican presidential election, I find that RRs were up to 15 percent more likely to stay home on election day at the expense of the primary opposition party and significantly less likely to punish the incumbent party with a vote for either of the major opposition parties if they did vote. / text

Appropriate housing with security of tenure is an important factor in the immigrant settlement and integration process. However, many studies of immigrant settlement and the housing careers of immigrants do so within the borders of a nation-state without reference to transnationalism – immigrants’ ties and cross-border connections with the country of origin. This case study of the transnational ties and housing careers of Ghanaian immigrants in Toronto aims to increase our understanding of one recent immigrant group’s settlement and integration process in Canada. Using a mixed-method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, this study explores how transnational housing activities influence the housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. The findings include insights into the immigration history and the socio-demographic characteristics of Ghanaians in Toronto; the nature and extent of transnational ties between Ghana and Canada; the nature of housing careers among Ghanaians in Toronto; and the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. Although Ghanaians’ immigration to Canada dates from the late 1950s, Ghanaians started coming to Canada in noticeable numbers after the 1960s. Ghanaian immigration to Canada generally and to Toronto particularly surged in the 1980s and beyond. Deteriorating economic and political conditions in Ghana and relatively favourable immigration policies and a good economic climate in Canada were the driving forces behind Ghanaian migration to Canada. However, the Ghanaian settlement process in Toronto does not culminate in a complete break with the homeland. Rather, Ghanaians in Toronto have engaged in a range of transnational activities with the country of origin, including contacts with family and friends, travelling to or visiting Ghana, following Ghanaian politics, investing in housing or property in Ghana, running businesses in Ghana, attending funerals in Ghana, and making regular remittances to Ghana. With respect to Ghanaians’ housing careers, the study reveals that during their initial settlement period, most Ghanaians lived in public subsidized rental housing or poor-quality private rental housing. They considered their housing conditions as inadequate and unsuitable and were not satisfied with their neighbourhood’s safety and security. At the time of the survey, however, respondents were more likely to own homes and were more likely to feel safe and secure in their neighbourhoods. However, housing affordability remains a major problem for Ghanaians in Toronto. With respect to the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto, the study finds that transnational housing activities, especially Ghanaians’ attitudes to and preference for investing in housing in Ghana, affect their housing careers in Toronto. Sending regular remittances to Ghana and investing in housing in the homeland involve mobilizing huge financial resources from Toronto to achieving their housing needs in the country of origin, while many Ghanaians struggle to meet their own needs in Toronto. A logistic regression analysis shows that personal income and strong ties with Ghana are statistically significant predictors of investing in housing in Ghana. At the same time, significant predictors of Ghanaians’ propensity to own a house in Canada include loyalty to Canada and household income. The study contributes conceptually and empirically to three areas of research – transnationalism, housing careers, and immigrant settlement and integration – which hitherto have been studied as separate themes. Conceptually, it breaks away from the traditional way of researching immigrant settlement and housing careers by introducing a new conceptual dimension, transnationalism. Further, this research has added new insights about a recently arrived immigrant group in Toronto. Finally, the study contributes to the social work literature by identifying an emerging field of international social work. It has drawn attention to the fact that in the era of transnationalism, the emergence of a population of migrants whose needs and lives transcend national borders will affect the future of social work research and practice.

This thesis analyses the concept of transnationalism as a newly emerging approach in the field of international migration. This study aimed to try to understand the context of the emergence of this new approach in relation with changing global context. Additionally, this study also aimed to analyse functions of the concept of transnationalism as a new theoretical frame and a new analytical tool to generate an appropriate research agenda in order to study contemporary migratory phenomena. This study has concluded that the concept of transnationalism can generate an appropriate approach and research agenda to understand contemporary migratory phenomena. In spite of the fact that transnationalism is not a well-established approach, transnational practices and relations of migrant communities in specific and contemporary migratory phenomena in general can be studied in the frame of this new concept.