Migration Ethical challenges

Maciej St. Zięba

School of Polish Language and Culture, 2009

Migrest

Migralink

Migravalue

International projects in migration management implemented i.a. in Lublin

MigrEst

• Migrest – Pilot Programme on the Impact of Enlargement for the Regions Bordering the Candidate Countries

• 2004-2005

• http://www.migrest.net

MigraLink

• Migralink – Integration of Migrants in the Enlarged Europe and the Policies for the Return of Productive Intellect

• 2005-2007

• http://www.migralink.org

MigraValue• Migravalue – Steering

Economic and Social Cohesion in the Cadses Space: Valuing Migration as a Development Tool

• 2006-2008

• http://www.migravalue.net

What is migration?

• Changing place of residence from one country (region) to another country (region)

• Types of migration phenomena:– Emigration + Immigration– Remigration (return migration)– Circular migration (Shuttle migration)– Gradual (multiple-steps) migration

Three distinctive features of the 21st century’s migration

1. Related to quick exchange of information

2. Growing number of countries with norms and standards to civilise migration

3. Growing multiculturalism of migration

Growing difficulty in studying the phenomenon of migration

• An ubiquitious phenomenon

• Disappearance of points of control

• Multi-dimensionality of the phenomenon

• New types of migration emerging

• Several aspects of migration never studied

Dealing with migration

• Traditional normative-reprehensive approach:– legal– economical

• Modern descriptive-explanatory approach:– sociological– psychological

• New humanistic value-oriented approach – understanding and problem solving = Ethical approach = Integrated approach – an individual (a person) seen in all his/her dimensions

within all his social and cultural contexts

Ethics as the superior social science

• „In order to effectively solve practical problems all sciences of man should be directed and governed by a philosophy of values – i.e. ethics” (Florian Znaniecki)

• It is necessary to adopt the strong ethical thesis: ”Absolute (unchanging, universally valid) moral values are inherent in the all-human objective moral order”; therefore – ”ethics is not subjective”

The bases of the applied ethics

1. Ethical theorya) basic values and principles

b) both obligations and rights

2. Case studiesa) no quick generalisationsb) without false analogies

Man in all dimensions

• Human beings should never be an instrument but always the goal

• Human dignity has to be above socially valuable goals

• Human beings should be able to develop all their dimensions

• „We wanted work force and we have obtained human beings”

False or inappropriateethical approaches

• Business ethics– employers’ responsibilities, migrant reduced to the

context of job

• Political ethics– only hosting country, discrimination-fighting,

paternalism

• Administrative ethics– only hosting country, corruption-fighting, paternalism,

• Global ethics – politically correct, cultural relativism

The situation of a migrant

• Migration is a situation of social change – between the past roles and new (often unsatisfactory) roles

• Migration is a border-crossing situation – between the sending country and the hosting country

• Migration is a multidimensionally difficult situation – it is a liminal situation where the human endurance is being tested

Migration as anomie-generating situation

• Push situation – social discomfort = social anomie (impossibility to achieve social goals with socially accepted rules of conduct)

• Response situation – innovative response to fulfill one’s ambitions (hasardous: does not necessarily lead to success) = deepening individual anomie (social norms exist but are not observed)

• Situation abroad – difficult situation of deprivation (in physical, emotional and cognitive areas) but most often in a group of peers – anomie-generating

Sectoral anomie’s definition

• Disorder of the system of norms and values (values declared as important are considered suspended „here” and „now”)

• Peculiar sectoral subculture of jointly agreed justifications for transgression of certain norms (type and degree)

• Agreed justifications treated as excuses ‘‘in advance”

• Betrayal of important values: towards oneself, family, country, culture, religion

Anomie’s elements in migrants (1)– sudden decrease of spiritual density (reduced number,

intensity, stability and depth of social relations)– limiting one’s contacts to peers of the same origin– avoidance of deepening of the relations with local population

– feeling of alienation and loneliness; – stereotypes of the „other” and false own identity as anti-identity

of the „other”– myth of two worlds: „here” and „back there” with different

standards

– cognitive dissonance: regarding the conditions „here” and „there”; – lack of understanding of the local conditions (laws, customs,

culture, language etc.) – disbelief in reality – stereotype-oriented life

Anomie’s elements in migrants (2)

– dignity dissonance: humiliation (leading up to despair) combined with avarice

– contradictory feelings about the conditions of life and success – necessity of self-dependency related to total dependency on

others– generalised lack of trust in institutions of the society combined

with the necessity to trust complete strangers

– constant feeling of temporariness (myth of return)– feeling of homelessness– „temporary” suspension of observance of norms

Anomie’s elements in migrants (3)

– loss (abandoning) of one’s own culture connected with failure to assimilate to local culture,

– limiting one’s life to work, subordinating all other elements to gainful employment

– insufficient support from the community of origin which would give a tool to verification and falsification of beliefs; to practical application of moral standards– replaced by a subculture of migrants

– lack of previous deep internalisation of moral norms (lower moral development)– external excuses instead of internal justification of actions

Family – the foremost price-payer of migration anomie

• The family is sending its most enterprising representative avroad

• The family is counting on the benefits from migration

• The family bears the greatest cost of migration

• Betrayal of the family – the worst betrayal the anomic migrant can commit

Migrant between two countries

• Debt of gratitude– a state has an ethical obligation to educate its citizens to prepare

them to life– a citizen grows up with a moral obligation due to his society for

the education– a migrant incurs such a debt to two countries, two communities

• Relocation of capital– „who milks the cow and who gets the cream?”– one country has invested in the original education of the

migrants and another one is using the fruit thereof– the other country has an obligation to „repay” at least by taking

care for the other country’s citizen attrated to it, who is contributing to this society’s wealth

Both countries are losing if:

• migrants and the hosting society do not know each other and do not co-operate

• migrants live in ghettoes or subcultures and do not get socially assimilated

• only the people of weak character get assimilated (both socially and culturally)

• migrants become anomic in big masses

The ethical role of the state

The foremost task encompasses the educational actions and the awareness campaigns for migrants, their families and local (hosting) societies:– about the actual significance of migration for both countries,– about the actual conditions in the hosting country and in the

country of origin (while on emigration), – about the cultural differences and the dangers of the clash of the

two cultures,– about the factors that might cause negative attitudes in migrants

(anomie) and surrounding societies and about the factors that help prevent them.

The other tasks include support to social assimilation of migrants (while preserving cultural identity) – engagement in social activity on local level, support to diaspora ssociations,

as well as granting equal access to social services.

Education

– The country of origin has to educate its citizens before they go abroad (the prospective emigrants) and their families staying at home,

• otherwise the migrants give bad testimony of their original country and culture.

– The destination country has to educate both its receiving society and the incoming immigrants,

• otherwise the social unrest is granted;• this is a kind of „cost of profitable investment” since the host

country benefits from the work (taxes, payments to social security, direct consumption) of the immigrants.

Basic areas of education (1)

a) Awareness of the factors and situations leading to anomie (social demoralisation) esp. of the subculture of excuses

b) Value of preserving normal relations with the community of origin to prevent it

- for prospective and actual migrants- for their families staying at home- for the hosting societies

The education on anomie

– This comprises theoretical knowledge and practical abilities to deal with the dangers that may (and eventually will) encounter migrant in another society:

• dangers related to dignity dissonance• dangers related to cognitive dissonance• dangers related to lack of social relations• dangers related to restricting life to work• dangers related to value betrayal• dangers related to failure of the migration projects• conflicting interests• the values of the hosting society and the sendding one• differences in lifestyles, attitudes, cultures• otherwise all become subject to stereotypes or unknowing.

Basic areas of education (2)

a) Importance of upholding tradition as protection against endemic anomie

- for migrants

b) Importance of preservation of immigrants’ tradition for the maintenance of social order in the hosting society

c) Value added of the true cultural identity of immigrants, if not based on the negative stereotypes of the „other”

- for the hosting societies

Basic areas of education (3)

a) Falsity of the myth of return and harmfulness of living on temporary basis

b) Benefits of social assimilation into local society, even if not for the whole life; difference between social and cultural assimilation

- for migrants

Basic areas of education (4)

a) One can better fulfil oneself if one co-operates with one’s local neighbours and has active role in daily life beyond work

- for migrants

b) Local communities usually profit from the presence of immigrants more than the immigrants themselves

- for the hosting communities

Other actions of the hosting country that have ethical significance

• Supporting the local communities in engaging immigrants in various forms of social activity. Supporting diaspora associations in the reciprocal activities (cultural exchange, dialogue, prevention of alienation, boredom, neutralisation of ghetto subcultures’ impact and of the myths of „other”, and of „here” and „back there”).

• Building the migrants’ trust in local community and its institutions by granting equal access and by educating the officials who might have contact with migrants.

Thank you

dr Maciej St. Zięba

mszieba@kul.lublin.pl

http://www.kul.pl/maciej.st.zieba/

books on migration downloadable at:

http://www.kul.pl/migravalue

section: Publikacje o migracji