Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies

A Critical Realist Perspective

Theodoros Iosifides

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781409402220
• eBook ISBN: 9781317072966
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Emigration & Immigration
• Index: Social Sciences

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in a series of issues related to migration, including identity formation and change, the role of social capital and social networks, ethnic discrimination, racism and xenophobia, socio-political participation and mobilisation and the complex nature of the causal mechanisms linked to migration - issues that are better highlighted and investigated using qualitative methods. Moving away from the quantitative and empiricist-positivist approaches that have often characterised migration research, Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies explores in a concise but comprehensive way the key issues involved in researching migratory phenomena in a qualitative manner. It addresses themes including the basic characteristics of contemporary migration, qualitative research into social processes related to migration, and the relationship between theory, research design and practice. Drawing upon empirical case studies and a series of real and hypothetical examples, the book develops a critical realist alternative both to empiricism and interpretivist, social constructionist and post-structuralist relativism in qualitative migration research. With special emphasis on the meta-theoretical dimensions of qualitative research practice, this volume connects qualitative findings to policy formation and 'politics making', exploring the multiple dimensions involved in researching migratory phenomena, such as ontology, epistemology, methodology, ethics and research practice. As such, it will be of interest to students and researchers in migration across the social sciences.

Chapter 1 Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781315603124-1

My main purpose in writing this book is to offer a critical realist perspective on conducting qualitative research in migration studies. I place special emphasis on the ontological and epistemological (meta-theoretical) dimensions of qualitative methods with regard to migration-related phenomena and processes and on the advantages that critical realism offers to overcome the problems and fallacies of empiricist, interpretivist and constructionist thinking in qualitative research, including qualitative migration research. Thus, the implications of the book and the issues raised and discussed in it are, in my view, of a wider character; they concern the status of social research methods in general and qualitative methods in particular regarding explanatory power and emancipatory potential. In this work I claim that this status is seriously undermined by the unfortunate connection, on the one hand, between quantitative methods with positivism and, on the other hand, between qualitative methods with various versions of interpretivism, constructionism and relativism. Regarding the latter, this connection is so strong that it became almost definitional for qualitative research in general (see Porter 2007: 80). I strongly challenge this connection in this book and demonstrate that the inherent strengths of qualitative methods can be fully implemented and appreciated when these methods are designed and applied within a critical realist meta-theoretical framework. Within realist frameworks, qualitative methods can become powerful means to investigate social reality in all its complexity and ontological depth and to enhance the causal-explanatory as well as the emancipatory potential of social science research methods and social inquiry in general. I discuss the advantages of a close link between qualitative methods and realist ontological and epistemological principles using as an exemplar the field of migration studies, with which I have been engaged for more than a decade.

Migration studies had been, for a long time, dominated by empiricist-positivist approaches and the associated quantitative survey methods. Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a growing interest in a series of aspects related to the migration phenomenon, which are better highlighted and investigated with qualitative methods. Some of those aspects are, among others, processes of migration decision making, identity formation and change through migratory experiences, the role of social capital and social networks in immigrant incorporation, the dynamics of transnational social spaces, ‘ethnic’ discrimination, racism and xenophobia, sociopolitical participation and mobilisation etc. The above dimensions of migratory phenomena are characterised by the centrality of meaning making processes and interpretative understanding of the social world along with practical action within certain and specific structural and cultural contexts, and are researched with qualitative methods such as qualitative interviewing, biographical/narrative approaches, focus groups, participant observation and so on. Nevertheless, in many cases, the epistemological and methodological framework, within which qualitative methods are applied to migration studies – and to other fields – is based on the adoption of a relativist stance and fails to account for the complexities of the relations between structure, culture and agency. Thus, as mentioned before, the basic aim of this book is to offer a critical realist alternative, both to empiricism and relativism and to indicate the high explanatory potential of realist qualitative research on complex and multi-dimensional phenomena and processes such as those related to migration.

The book consists of five chapters, including this brief introductory one. Chapter 2 starts with a concise coverage of key developments of migratory movements (mainly but not exclusively labour migration and refugee movements) in the twentieth century globally, with a special emphasis on Europe and North America. More specifically, and after a brief note on pre-modern migrations, it covers key developments during industrialisation and capitalist expansion and development, before and after the World War II and in the contemporary era. This part of the chapter demonstrates the complexity and multi-dimensionality of migration-related processes and phenomena indicating the theoretical and methodological challenges that migration research constantly faces. The chapter continues with a critical exploration of the main theoretical frameworks for explaining migration, notably micro-level, structuralist, transnationalism and social capital theories along with synthetic attempts to account for the complexities of the phenomenon. The latter attempts are viewed as more promising in comparison with other theoretical frameworks as they are capable of accounting more constructively for the linkages between structural and agential factors, avoiding reductionism and of engaging in multi-level and multi-dimensional analysis. Moreover these attempts are more consistent with realist principles of theorising migration-related processes and phenomena. Chapter 2 ends with a concise discussion of various epistemological and methodological approaches to migration research, notably methodological individualism, holism/collectivism, structuration and social realist approaches. Furthermore, and in close relation with the above issues, the quantitative-qualitative debate in researching migration is highlighted. Lastly, the chapter includes a relatively brief analysis of key themes in migration research, related mainly to social structures, migration policies, migration-related processes and to the dynamics of identity formation and change. On the whole, the Chapter sets the factual, theoretical, methodological and thematic scene for the more detailed elaborations regarding the design and application of realist qualitative methods to migration studies.

Chapter 3 fulfils two highly interrelated tasks. The first task concerns a relatively detailed discussion of the critical realist meta-theoretical approach in social science. This approach covers the most basic issues raised within the realist framework which are related to transitivity and intransitivity, reality stratification, causality, complexity, emergence, theorisation and explanation. Moreover the appropriateness of qualitative methods in accounting for these issues is emphasised. The second task of the chapter is to provide a critical analysis of alternatives to realist paradigms, especially to various forms of interpretivism and social constructionism that inspire much of today’s qualitative research practice. Throughout the chapter, hypothetical or real examples of qualitative research in general and of qualitative migration research in particular are utilised for strengthening the arguments made regarding the advantages of adopting a realist rationale in researching social phenomena and processes.

The focus of Chapter 4 turns to social research methodology within realist principles and more specifically to qualitative migration research practice. The chapter covers issues related to realist social research methods, realist qualitative research, key principles of qualitative migration research design, main qualitative methods and data analysis strategies in migration studies, research ethics, validity and multi-methodological approaches. This chapter contains a detailed analysis of the kind of qualitative research I advocate and the reasons why this kind of qualitative research is more productive, illuminating and useful than its interpretivist or constructionist counterparts. Throughout it, the chapter is filled by hypothetical or real examples of qualitative migration research which are either explicitly realist or consistent with realist principles and shed light on the great explanatory power of qualitative approaches conducted within realist meta-theoretical frameworks.

The final chapter (Chapter 5) concludes the book by summarising its main rationale and arguments and accounting for the scientific and socio-political relevance of realist qualitative migration research.

Chapter 2 Contemporary Migration

DOI: 10.4324/9781315603124-2

2.1 A Brief History of Migratory Movements in the Twentieth Century

2.1.1 Pre-modern Migrations

Migratory movements and geographical mobility of peoples in general, have characterised human societies almost since their beginning or, at least, since historical periods for which there are some sort of data about human life and activities. Environmental changes, difficulties in adaptation to harsh ecological conditions, social conflicts and antagonisms of various types, exploratory enterprises and even an alleged human ‘roving instinct’ (King 1994: 1) may be viewed as factors causing constant migratory movements in pre-historic and early historic times. According to accepted theories, the spread of humans throughout the world originated in movements from Africa to Asia and then to Europe, while Oceania and America were later destination areas (Guinness 2002). King (1994: 7–8) refers to key migratory movements in the pre-modern era such as the migration of Aryans (2000–1700 BC), migration and colonisation in ancient Greece and when ancient Greece was under the Roman rule, Islamic expansion from 640 to 1250 AD and the invasion of Muslims from the Mogul empire to central Asia (1200–1700 AD), Islamic migrations to Africa related to the development of the slave trade and other commercial activities and Slavic migration from 600 to 900 AD.

Approaching the modern era (that is from 1492 onwards when Columbus ‘discovered’ America), migratory movements are closely linked to the gradual formation of global and/or regional labour markets and to the setting of the preconditions for the establishment and deepening of capitalist relations of production. From its beginning, capitalist expansion was based on the use of migrant labour (forced, voluntary and semi-voluntary) through colonialism and the related development of the slave trade and of indentured (‘coolie’) labour mobility (Castles and Miller 2003). European colonisation of large parts of the globe led to migratory movements of Europeans to Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania (Castles and Miller 2003). During the phase of ‘mercantile capitalism’, from 1500 to 1800 European ‘emigrants generally fell into four classes: a relatively large number of agrarian settlers, a smaller number of administrators and artisans, an even smaller number of entrepreneurs who founded plantations to produce raw materials for Europe’s growing mercantilist economies, and in a few cases, convict migrants sent to penal colonies overseas’ (Massey 2003: 1).

Low productivity of plantation and mining production in the Americas and urgent needs for cheap and abundant labour, led to the development of the slave trade, mainly from various areas of Africa (Massey 2003, Castles and Miller 2003):

The slave trade was organized in the notorious ‘triangular trade’: ships laden with manufactured goods, such as guns or household implements, sailed from ports such as Bristol and Liverpool, Bordeaux and Le Havre, to the coasts of West Africa. There Africans were either forcibly abducted or were purchased from local chiefs or traders in return for goods. Then the ships sailed to the Caribbean or the coasts of North or South America, where the slaves were sold for cash. This was used to purchase the products of the plantations, which were brought back for sale in Europe. (Castles and Miller 2003: 53)

It is estimated that between 1600 and 1900 10.24 million slaves from Africa were transported to the Americas (Lovejoy 2000). After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire (1833) and especially in the USA (1863–1865), labour availability was guaranteed through the development of the system of indentured (‘coolie’) labour. Castles and Miller (2003: 55) point out that ‘[A]ccording to Potts (1990: 63-103) indentured workers were used in 40 countries by all the major colonial powers. She estimates that the system involved 12 to 37 million workers between 1843 and 1941, when indentureship was finally abolished in the Dutch colonies’. The system was abolished gradually from 1878 in Malaya to 1920 in Fiji and India, while in the Dutch colonies indentured labour was abolished in 1941 (King 1994).

2.1.2 Industrialisation, Capitalist Development and Internal Migration

Due to the exploitation of the colonies and of migrant labour of various types, capital accumulation accelerated in the major areas of the global core after the eighteenth century (Castles and Miller 2003). This acceleration, along with the deepening of capitalist relations of production to urban and rural areas, was simultaneously based on and caused by massive internal movements of peasants to the dynamic, predominately urban, areas of manufactured production. Different countries and areas in Europe followed various paths of industrialisation, urbanisation and internal population mobility as regards time and characteristics. Thus, in Britain, where industrial development accelerated rapidly after the end of the eighteenth century, internal migration resulted in balancing urban and rural population in 1850 (Mousourou 1990: 13).

In other countries, urbanisation reached the same levels much later, notably in Germany in 1890, France in 1930, in the Soviet Union in 1960 and in Greece just in 1970 (Mousourou 1990: 13). Nevertheless in many other countries and areas the rate of urbanisation and internal migratory movements was faster. Thus:

By 1801 nearly one-tenth of the population of England and Wales was living in cities of over 100,000 people. This proportion doubled in 40 years and doubled again in another 60 years. As the process of the Industrial Revolution spread to other countries, the pace of urbanisation quickened. The change from a population of 10% to 30% living in urban areas of over 100,000 people took 80 years in England and Wales; 66 years in the USA; 48 years in Germany; 36 years in Japan and 26 years in Australia. (Guinness 2002: 38)

Rapid urbanisation, mainly due to internal migrations, resulted in 135 urban centres over 100,000 people in Europe in 1900, while in 1800 the number of urban centres over 100,000 was only 23 (Bade 2003). Nevertheless, internal migration during the era of Industrial Revolution was not a peaceful process. It was a process according to which people from rural areas seeking to improve life standards and find employment opportunities were moving to cities. Urbanisation has been related to rapid and often extreme violent social changes, both in rural and urban areas, associated with the, often forced, generation of those conditions that transformed traditional peasants into industrial labourers. It entailed the destruction of traditional agrarian economies and communities as well as subsistence agriculture, due to the proliferation of market relations; it often faced significant social resistance both in rural settings and in urban areas after internal mobility had occurred.

In the exemplary case of Britain, this process of internal migration, industrialisation and urbanisation is inextricably intertwined with the ‘enclosures’ in rural settings (Castles and Miller 2003) and with the infamous ‘poor laws’ in urban centres (Brundage 2001). ‘Enclosure’ refers to the transformation of communal, ‘open’ lands (mainly grazing fields) into arable lands under private property. Enclosures do not have to be equated with just dividing and ‘fencing’ former communal fields; they can correspond to more fundamental processes such as establishing private property rights, dismantling communal rights, overcoming land segmentation and enhancing consolidation of property (Neeson 1993). Thus ‘enclosure involved the removal of communal rights, controls or ownership over a piece of land and its conversion into ‘severalty’; that is a state where the owner had sole control over its use, and of access to it’ (Kain et al. 2004: 1). Despite considerable social resistance, enclosures succeeded, causing rural depopulation, rapid deterioration of life chances in rural areas and extended population movements towards urban centres.

Nevertheless, new internal migrants from rural areas did not automatically conform to the requirements of the new industrial system of production in cities. Thus, once again, capitalism had to rely on new forms of forced labour in order to enhance accumulation (Castles...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table Of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Contemporary Migration
• 3 Theoretical and Epistemological Issues in Qualitative Research: The Case for Critical Realism
• 4 Critical Realism, Social Research Methodology and Qualitative Migration Research
• 5 Conclusions: Critical Realism, Qualitative Migration Research and Politics Making
• Bibliography
• Index