This thesis is a comparative study of contemporary German migration to Australia and Canada, specifically to Sydney and Vancouver. It explores the dynamics of the migration process from a phenomenological point of view. All events and circumstances in the migration process are seen as interrelated, and therefore important to the analysis. Furthermore, the meaning of a phenomenon can only be understood by exploring its context. Therefore, this study views contemporary German migration in its various contexts—how it is displayed in the social science literature and manifested in government statistics, how it is presented as common sense, and how it is experienced by the migrants themselves. Thus, the phenomenological approach attempts to be holistic. Using the phenomenologic-hermeneutic paradigm the thesis focuses on the subjective experiences of individuals; in terms of migrants' understanding of their own motivations, migration decisions, and the process of adjustment, and in terms of their understanding of other contemporary German migration experience. The study examines the migration narratives of a sample of thirty Germans who have migrated, or are at some stage of the process of migrating, to either Australia or Canada over the last twenty-five years. The specific analysis and interpretation of these accounts are based on the hermeneutic philosophy of meaning and discourse. The sample interviews reveal two levels of conceptualization in the subjects' accounts. At one level all migrants talk in a way that can be characterized as representing "common knowledge". On another level, the interviewees interpret their own personal motivations and experiences in a way which does not correspond to common knowledge. Interviewees commonly described the Neueinwanderer (new immigrant) as wealthy, arrogant business migrants, but none of the interviewees described themselves in those terms. In Australia it was commonly thought that Neueinwanderer have a difficult adjustment time, but most personal narratives related positive adjustment experiences. In Canada all interviewees believed that German immigrants had no great adjustment difficulties. The major finding of this thesis is that the conventional notions of linearity and finality with respect to migration need to be re-evaluated in the social science literature, government policies and common sense. The phenomenologic discussion reveals that modern migration, at least for certain groups to certain countries, is not a linear, discrete and final process. Instead, this thesis argues that migration is best seen as a comprehensive, recursive process of decision making, action (legal application and geographic move) and adaptation to a new environment. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The devolution of immigration policy to the 50 states has resulted in the enactment of more than 1,500 state-level immigration since 2005. For the record 42 million immigrants living in the U.S., these laws have had tremendous consequences related to healthcare utilization and access, community relations with law enforcement, family dissolution, and the exacerbation of income inequalities. While the legislative arena has shifted to the states, our understanding of immigration policymaking remains unclear due to inconsistent and omitted predictors of immigration policy, subjective coding of immigration laws, and statistical modeling that does not take into account changes in key independent variables. Using data primarily from the Census Bureau’s American Factfinder, the Current Population Survey, and the National Council of State Legislatures, and other sources this research refines the quantitative determinants of immigration policy while using time-series analysis to highlight the factors linked to laws designed to integrate or exclude immigrations in the 50 states. Once empirical analysis is conducted, I delve into the details of state level immigration policymaking by interviewing state level bureaucrats within state health departments to determine the role that they, their data analysis, and the research play when it comes to influencing legislators and shaping immigration policy. This mixed methods approach combining statistical modeling and key informant interviews provides important findings that give a clear picture on why state institutional arrangements are crucial for understating immigration policy at the state level.

Diss. Ph. D.--Education--Uppsala University, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 176-182.

Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Ethnologie, anthropologie--Montpellier 3, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 181-183.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

Thesis (Ph.D.) --University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Anthropology, 2008. / "July 2008" Bibliography: leaves 228-250. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf [91-93]).

Thesis (PhD) -- Bond University, 2006. / "This thesis submitted to Bond University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy". Bibliography: pages 258-284. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [91]-[93]). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Also available in print.