International Migration, Transnational Politics and Conflict

The Gendered Experiences of Colombian Migrants in Europe

Anastasia Bermudez

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781137531964
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137531971
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Social Sciences

This book makes a timely contribution to debates surrounding transnational political participation, the relationship between diasporas and conflict, and the gendered experiences of migrants. It fills a significant lacuna in research by analysing how migrants relate to and become involved in the politics of their home and host countries, and how transnational political fields emerge and function. The author achieves this by focusing on the little known but instructive case of Colombian migration to Europe, and the connections between these flows and the armed conflict and efforts for peace in Colombia. Shedding light on different types of migration and the rising complexity of international population movements, this innovative work will appeal to students and scholars of migration and diaspora studies, gender, political participation, conflict and peace studies and Latin American studies. It will also interest policy makers and community development workers engaged in these areas. 

© The Author(s) 2016

Anastasia BermudezInternational Migration, Transnational Politics and ConflictMigration, Diasporas and Citizenship10.1057/978-1-137-53197-1_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Anastasia Bermudez^{1, 2}

(1)

CEDEM, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

(2)

Department of Social Anthropology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

End Abstract

International migration has become a main feature of our societies. Its causes and consequences are heterogeneous and constantly evolving. Migrant lives and experiences represent an amazing variety, depending on countries of origin and destination, personal circumstances and year and duration of migration. This book does not aim to capture the entirety of such a complex phenomenon but rather focuses on three aspects that have attracted increased academic, policy and public attention. One is how international migration impacts on political participation and the emergence of transnational political fields. The second is the impact that armed conflicts have on migration flows and how diasporas relate to conflict and peace efforts in homelands. And the third one has to do with the role that gender plays in migration, conflict and peace.

These three strands of research come together neatly in the case study of Colombia. For decades, the country has been immersed in an armed conflict involving left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces. The illegal drugs trade and socioeconomic problems have fuelled the conflict further, creating multiple and interconnected types of violence affecting all sectors of society in different ways. One of the main consequences has been the displacement, ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’, of millions of Colombians, both internally and abroad (to neighbouring countries, North America, Europe and beyond). This context has not affected equally men and women or Colombians from different social classes and ethnic groups. Moreover, the displaced population has become a point of discussion in the recent peace talks, at the same time that Colombians abroad are seeking to exercise their agency in the process. This has not been analysed in depth in the academic literature or attracted sufficient political attention. Thus the current publication represents a timely and significant contribution to the study of migration, conflict and gender.

Finally, this book is the result of over twenty years of research on Colombian and wider Latin American migration to Europe, a flow that has not been amply studied. It is also the product of my interest in this country and region, gender (in)equality, migration and armed conflicts and efforts for peace. But above all, it is my encounters with Colombians in the United Kingdom (UK), Spain and Belgium and their willingness to share their stories with me that have made this project possible. In the next sections, I explore in more detail the aims and contributions of the book and introduce the rest of the chapters.

International Migration and Migrant Transnational Politics

According to the United Nations (UN), in 2013 there were 244 million international migrants worldwide, a large majority of them coming from the Global South. Europe and Asia are identified as the main host regions, although flows are very heterogeneous both in terms of origin and destination. Moreover, an estimated 48 % of all migrants are women (UN 2016). Since international migration has been increasing rapidly in the twenty-first century, it is no surprise that interest in this subject has grown both at the academic and the political and social levels. Studies of migration have proliferated and diversified with emphasis varying from the micro to the macro, focusing on different regions or countries and undertaken from the perspective of both sending and receiving societies.

Despite this, the general image we tend to have of migrants is one of poor people moving in search of better socioeconomic opportunities or escaping conflict; at the other end of the spectrum is high-skilled migration. Often migrants are seen as the product of specific contexts and as passive recipients of policies rather than as active agents not only economically, but also socially, culturally and politically. This portrayal has been further exacerbated in recent years as a result of the global financial crisis and its impact on some countries as well as the so-called refugee crisis. However, new theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of migration have helped highlight the many ways in which migrants contribute and participate in their host societies as well as in their countries of origin and beyond. One of these approaches is transnationalism.

Following on from the seminal work by Glick Schiller and others in the 1990s and beyond, the transnational migration paradigm has helped uncover how migrants maintain a wide array of links with their home (and other) countries, at the same time that they integrate or become incorporated (or not) in their host societies. This means that although nation-states remain important entities, ‘[m]ore and more aspects of social life take place across borders’ (Levitt and Jaworsky 2007, p. 130). As a result, many studies have drawn attention to the way migrants participate in transnational fields or spaces encompassing economic, social, cultural, religious, emotional and political activities. A key example of this is the sending of economic remittances by migrants to their families back in the home country. Equally, with the easing of communications and transportation, migrants are better able to maintain regular contact with relatives and friends left behind through calls, emails and other technology as well as frequent travelling. Technological changes have also favoured the following of events in the home country, including in the cultural, religious and political spheres. Politically, migrants are now able in many cases to participate to varying degrees in the life of their home and host societies.

Nevertheless, the political capacities and agency of migrants, whether locally or transnationally, has received less attention than other aspects of migrants’ lives. This is due to several factors. In the host countries, migrants have often been seen as mainly workers rather than as full social and political actors. The political capital they bring with them, based on their past experiences and the political culture in their home countries, has been ignored or discarded as less valuable, especially in the case of migrants from the South moving to the Global North. In addition, in some cases they are excluded from the formal political sphere. It is only recently that countries of origin and destination began to move towards the full political inclusion of migrants. The focus on formal or conventional politics (elections, parties) has also served to obscure the many other ways in which migrants participate, for example through trade unions, migrant organisations and other civic initiatives at the local, national and transnational levels. It is precisely to the transnational political participation of international migrants that this book is largely devoted.

One of the main aims of the present study is to demonstrate that migrants are not apolitical, as many studies and politicians tend to portray them. They have an important political capital that they carry with them and transform through the migration experience. Such capital is used (or not) in myriad ways in combination with the structures that allow or restrict their political involvement in the home and host societies to produce diverse and evolving ways of thinking about and participating politically. One way they do this is through their engagement in conflict and peace building in their countries of origin.

Diasporas in Conflict and Peace

Another way to look at international migration is through the concept of diasporas. Although in the classical tradition this term is associated with the forcible dispersal of large national, religious and ethnic groups, such as the Jews, the Armenians or the Palestinians, recently it has been expanded and used in a greater variety of contexts. For Evans Braziel and Mannur (2003, p.1), diasporas can refer to ‘displaced communities of people who have been dislocated from their native homeland through the movements of migration, immigration, or exile … [to] one or more nation-states, territories, or countries’. This broader use of the concept has generated some criticism, but proven very useful to encompass the growth and complexity of current international migration flows. Thus, scholars today speak of different types of diasporas (see Chap. 2).

Despite this variety, there are some common elements shared by most, if not all, diasporas. One is their association with the idea of forced migration or exile caused by conflict. Contemporary wars have become increasingly complex, with a shift towards internal conflicts or intra-state wars and with civilians accounting for a disproportionate share of those affected, both directly as victims and indirectly.¹ One of the consequences of these new wars as well as conflict and violence worldwide is the forced migration of people internally and internationally. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR 2015), there are almost 58 million ‘people of concern’ globally, with Colombia being one of the main source countries due to its large internally displaced population. Women account for around half of this population. Some of the new diasporas that have emerged in the modern period are the result of these refugee movements (Van Hear 2009). In addition, these social formations often engage in transnational politics, both in relation to the home country and also between different diaspora destinations (and internationally).

Thus, another key element often present in diasporas is the link maintained with the society of origin, whether this is based in the home country or dispersed throughout the world. Such links can involve personal, social, economic, political, religious, cultural and other activities, making diasporas, almost by definition, active global players. This means that they are not just the passive victims of conflict or migration but also actors in their own right, including politically. Moreover, as Shuval (2000, p. 46) points out, in recent years there has been ‘a strong trend towards [the] politicization’ of diaspora links.

The academic literature has long dealt with the issue of diaspora politics. However, recently there has been renewed interest on the impact that diasporas can have on general development in their home countries, as well as on politics more specifically. This is connected both to concerns about security, loyalty and social cohesion in host societies, as well as the emergence of concepts such as ‘codevelopment’. It is widely acknowledged that diasporas can play an important political role vis-à-vis their home country as well as internationally, whether by lobbying, denouncing, voting, and so on. Examples of this are the cases of the Jewish and Cuban diasporas in the United States (USA). This politicisation extends also to the ways that diasporas participate in the creation, continuation or resolution of conflicts, as well as in post-conflict situations.

As conflicts throughout the world have become more complex, it has come to be increasingly recognised that diasporas and transnational migrant communities can play an important role in them. There is a long history of migrant economic and political involvement in civil wars and nation-building, both directly and indirectly. This involvement can include support for one group or faction, the sending of money, arms and other supplies, fighting in the conflict, providing a safe haven and lobbying in the host society or at the international level. Modern examples of this are the way émigrés from the former Yugoslavia helped fuel nationalism and the war in the home country, the material and symbolic contributions of the Eritrean diaspora towards independence from Ethiopia or more recently the participation of Muslims from across the world in the different conflicts in the Arab world (Hepner 2009; Hockenos 2003).

The participation of diasporas in conflict transformation has received increased attention as well. This is connected with the wider theme of diaspora contributions to development, but also with general interest on civil society engagement in conflict resolution. Although the concept of civil society remains a nebulous one, sometimes involving only voluntary organisations such as NGOs and others, including powerful actors such as the media and businesses, there is widespread agreement on the idea that a healthy, active civil society is key for democracy. Researchers have drawn attention to the existence of transnational, diasporic or global civil society (Kaldor 2003; McIlwaine 2007). In some cases, these formations have vied for active participation in conflict resolution and social transformations in the home countries.

Summarising, another main aim of my research is to broaden the meaning of transnational politics beyond the most obvious forms of participation to look at the way migrants relate to and become involved in conflict and peace in the home country. In this respect, the literature on diasporas proves very useful, since it has long been accepted that these remain politically connected to their societies of origin, including at times of conflict and peacebuilding. This ties up with the idea of civil society engagement in such contexts and its transnational dimensions. Moreover, as considered next, women and gender have come to occupy a central place in discussions of these issues.

Introducing a Gendered Lens

Over the last few decades, there has been a revolution in the social sciences in terms of the centrality of women and gender analyses, mirroring what has happened in the world at large. This applies to almost all fields and subjects of study, albeit with differences in degrees and evolution. An example of this is the changes that have occurred in migration studies and policy. If early thinking about migration tended to be androcentric, based on the idea of a male migrant either on his own or with female dependents, the 1980s saw the emergence of a focus on gender. This was related to a growing awareness that women form a significant part of population movements, and of the differences in the ways men and women participate in and are affected by migration. In addition, gender roles and relations are being transformed by migration.

Early studies focused on making women visible in their different roles, as individual migrants, part of family migration or when they are left behind. This coincided with the so-called feminisation of international migration flows. However, later research went beyond this n...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. Introduction
• 1. Conceptual and Contextual Framework
• 2. Migration, Integration and Transnationalism
• 3. Transnational Political Practices and Conflict
• Backmatter